ISEE/SSAT Vocabulary BuilderWordsIinsidious
ISEE/SSAThard
insidious
Meaning: causing harm gradually and without being noticed
insidious in a sentence
How insidious is used in real sentences:
The article examined the insidious effects of repeated misinformation.
The novel portrays prejudice as an insidious force that quietly shapes public policy.
“More troubling was the insidious drift of his syntax: repeated passive phrases gradually made deliberate arrests sound like weather that had simply arrived.”
— from the passage The Unsmoothed Voice
Synonyms for insidious
Other words for insidious — pernicious, stealthy and treacherous — carry the same meaning.
- pernicious
- stealthy
- treacherous
Antonyms of insidious
Words that mean the opposite of insidious:
- harmless
- obvious
- beneficial
Where it comes from
From Latin insidiosus, meaning 'cunning or deceitful.'
Word parts
- sed/sess/sid — sit; settle
insidious: in- (in) + sid (sit) + -ious (having the quality of)
Memory hook
INSIDIOUS harm works INSide before anyone notices it.