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“insidious”
insidious (adjective), more insidious, most insidious
1. Relating to an intension to entrap, to beguile, or to allure someone into a treacherous situation: Henry's cousin has an insidious plan to steal a woman's purse after she leaves the bank.
2. Stealthily treacherous or deceitful: The military commander told his staff that they were fighting an insidious enemy.
3. A reference to something that proceeds in an inconspicuous, subtle, stealthy, or seemingly harmless way, but which actually has a serious negative effect: Jim had an insidious disease which existed for some time, but even his physician was not aware of what was causing it.
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Go to this Word A Day Revisited Index
2. Stealthily treacherous or deceitful: The military commander told his staff that they were fighting an insidious enemy.
3. A reference to something that proceeds in an inconspicuous, subtle, stealthy, or seemingly harmless way, but which actually has a serious negative effect: Jim had an insidious disease which existed for some time, but even his physician was not aware of what was causing it.
Sometimes people have an insidious ailment, but they have no idea that they are infected.
4. Etymology: From Latin insidiosus, "deceitful", from insidae (plural) "plot, snare, ambush", from insidere, "to sit on, to occupy" from in-, "in" + sedere "to sit".Go to this Word A Day Revisited Index
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This entry is located in the following units:
-ous, -ious, -eous
(page 12)
sed-, sedat-, -sid, -sess
(page 2)
insidious, invidious
insidious (in SID ee uhs) (adjective)
1. Descriptive of a gradual onslaught of an illness or disease in such a manner that it is entrenched before being discovered: The insidious nature of Brian's ailment distressed both the patient and the doctor.
Most people with this insidious virus have no idea that they are infected.
2. Harmful, but seen as something which is desirable: There is an insidious aspect of drug addiction that some people apparently refuse to accept.invidious (in VID ee uhs) (adjective)
Characterized by discontent, envy, jealousy, or resentment: The invidious nature of the newspaper article created a sense of anger among the home owners.
The invidious articles in the newspaper created an insidious atmosphere at city hall which was difficult to understand.
This entry is located in the following unit:
Confusing Words Clarified: Group I; Homonyms, Homophones, Homographs, Synonyms, Polysemes, etc. +
(page 3)
Word Entries at Get Words:
“insidious”
Conveying a treacherous, deceitful, and crafty operation or plot for a dishonest purpose. (2)
This entry is located in the following unit:
Word a Day Revisited Index of Cartoons Illustrating the Meanings of Words
(page 47)