insidiousness

noun

as in underhandedness

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of insidiousness Thankfully, Leviticus has a good grasp on how to leverage this conceit for scares and to score points about the insidiousness of mistaking hatred for salvation. — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 17 June 2026 Without ever using the words, this House of the Dragon season evokes all-too-real fears about police funding, abridgment of freedom of speech and the insidiousness of theocratic rule. — Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 15 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for insidiousness
  1. hypocrisy
  2. slyness
  3. perfidy
  4. duplicity
  5. trickery
  6. deception
  7. slipperiness
  8. smoothness
Noun
  • The hypocrisy is stunning, and frightening.
    — Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 29 June 2026
  • The South cried hypocrisy on slavery, given that the seamen of Providence, Rhode Island, played a central role in the Atlantic slave trade.
    — James Traub, The Atlantic, 28 June 2026
Definition of hypocrisy
Noun
  • The harp is not an instrument of slyness, wryness, or the earth.
    — Emma Madden, Pitchfork, 28 Apr. 2026
  • Like the tricksters of myth, there’s depth to their slyness.
    — Big Think, Big Think, 5 Feb. 2026
Definition of slyness
Noun
  • If the landing had been faked, the Soviets would have figured it out and would have loved to reveal to the world America’s perfidy.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 14 May 2026
  • Any time there is a crisis in Iran, the 1953 British-American coup against Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh is dusted off as Exhibit A in the case against Western perfidy.
    — Bobby Ghosh, Time, 5 Mar. 2026
Definition of perfidy
Noun
  • But honesty doesn’t always save a career, and duplicity doesn’t always sink one.
    — Tracy Grant, Encyclopedia Britannica, 26 June 2026
  • Molloy rages to his film crew, and Lestat’s duplicity plants a wedge between the vamps.
    — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 23 June 2026
Definition of duplicity
Noun
  • West said Eisner was particularly delighted with the stage trickery that allowed a child actor to be seen as Chip, a teacup.
    — Tribune News Service, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 July 2026
  • The absolute key to France’s attack is the telepathic understanding brewing between Mbappé and Olise, whose combined trickery and close control are in perfect harmony.
    — Tom Burrows, New York Times, 27 June 2026
Definition of trickery
Noun
  • Guo was convicted of nine of 12 criminal charges during a seven-week trial that prosecutors said showcased his deception of thousands of investors in bogus deals that enabled Guo’s lavish lifestyle.
    — CNN Money, CNN Money, 30 June 2026
  • By the time the deception was uncovered, the employee had authorized $25 million in transfers.
    — Kevin Pierce, Forbes.com, 29 June 2026
Definition of deception
Noun
  • Cerúndolo went out in the first round at Wimbledon, and analyst Gill Gross suggested that the slipperiness of the grass may have been a factor.
    — Charlie Eccleshare, New York Times, 3 July 2026
  • In the following chapters of Quand j’étais photographe, Nadar plays on the rhetorical and material slipperiness of invention to craft a curious portrait of photography’s first fifty-odd years.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 27 Apr. 2026
Definition of slipperiness
Noun
  • Anything that prices it more often, more independently and more granularly works against the smoothness.
    — Dara-Abasi Ita, Forbes.com, 26 June 2026
  • Marketing claims about smoothness, energy, and mood are starting points for evaluation, not endpoints.
    — Allison Palmer Updated June 24, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 24 June 2026
Definition of smoothness

Browse Nearby Words

insidiously
insidiousness
insight
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Cite this Entry

“Insidiousness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/insidiousness. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

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