insidious : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: insidious	by the DICT Development Group
2 results for insidious
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
insidious adj beguiling but harmful; "insidious pleasures" intended to entrap working or spreading in a hidden and usually injurious way; "glaucoma is an insidious disease"; "a subtle poison" Synonym(s): insidious, pernicious, subtle
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Insidious \Insid"ious\, a. [L. insidiosus, fr. insidiae an ambush, fr. insidere to sit in; pref. in- + sedere to sit: cf. F. insidieux. See {Sit}.] 1. Lying in wait; watching an opportunity to insnare or entrap; deceitful; sly; treacherous; -- said of persons; as, the insidious foe. [bd]The insidious witch.[b8] --Cowper. 2. Intended to entrap; characterized by treachery and deceit; as, insidious arts. The insidious whisper of the bad angel. --Hawthorne. {Insidious disease} (Med.), a disease existing, without marked symptoms, but ready to become active upon some slight occasion; a disease not appearing to be as bad as it really is. Syn: Crafty; wily; artful; sly; designing; guileful; circumventive; treacherous; deceitful; deceptive. -- {Insid"iously}, adv. -- {Insid"iousness}, n.