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INSIDIOUS
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Working or spreading in a hidden and usually injurious way
Example:
a subtle poison
Synonyms:
insidious; pernicious; subtle
Classified under:
Similar:
harmful (causing or capable of causing harm)
Derivation:
insidiousness (subtle and cumulative harmfulness (especially of a disease))
Sense 2
Meaning:
Intended to entrap
Classified under:
Similar:
dangerous; unsafe (involving or causing danger or risk; liable to hurt or harm)
Derivation:
insidiousness (the quality of being designed to entrap)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Beguiling but harmful
Example:
insidious pleasures
Classified under:
Similar:
seductive (tending to entice into a desired action or state)
Derivation:
insidiousness (the quality of being designed to entrap)
Context examples:
He had changed it at the age of seventeen and at the specific moment that witnessed the beginning of his career—when he saw Dan Cody's yacht drop anchor over the most insidious flat on Lake Superior.
(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)
