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. underhandedness
  2. hypocrisy
  3. slyness
  4. perfidy
  5. duplicity
  6. trickery
  7. deception
  8. slipperiness
Noun
  • Frustrated but persistent, about seven hundred of the twelve hundred agents that participated in the board collaborated in what was essentially a cybersecurity version of capture the flag, a war game in which underhandedness is rewarded.
    — Jill Lepore, New Yorker, 21 Sep. 2026
Definition of underhandedness
Noun
  • Anthropic’s decision to heavily redact the report, citing grounds that revealing more could help its rivals accelerate their own development, has fueled accusations of hypocrisy.
    — Robert Hart, The Verge, 7 Nov. 2026
  • Regardless of the validity of the investigation, the mass-resignation exposes the hypocrisy of Georgia police, who have access to perhaps the largest public-private surveillance operation in US history.
    — Joe Wilkins, Futurism, 6 Nov. 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
  • Platner, indeed, has boiled down nearly all political problems to the perfidy of sinister oligarchs.
    — Jonathan Chait, The Atlantic, 6 July 2026
  • 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
Definition of perfidy
Noun
  • That these sort of games, with their duplicity, hypocrisies and teary moments of tenderness, are popular is beyond question, and that is certainly how viewers are invited to watch.
    — Television Critic, Los Angeles Times, 23 Sep. 2026
  • David Sacks, former tech investor and White House AI and crypto czar, has an excellent counterpoint that could explain the apparent duplicity of Dario's manifesto.
    — Jim Cramer, CNBC, 13 Sep. 2026
Definition of duplicity
Noun
  • At the end of the game, the stronger, faster, more skilled team is bound to overwhelm any and all elements or trickery.
    — Dom Amore, Hartford Courant, 29 Oct. 2026
  • Rarely does a pop album so deftly lay bare the trickery of pop albums, while remaining a compelling pop album in its own right.
    — Samuel Hyland, Pitchfork, 28 Oct. 2026
Definition of trickery
Noun
  • Irey is now facing several charges, including obstruction of justice, theft by deception, forgery and others.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 9 Nov. 2026
  • Even so, a person calling about an arrest or a custody dispute is just as likely to be anxious, and a voice that sounds human but is not can feel like deception, whatever the law requires.
    — Hamid Kohan, Forbes.com, 6 Nov. 2026
Definition of deception
Noun
  • The story plays with the slipperiness of identity and desire in a way that bolsters the horror of its lead character’s arc.
    — Angelica Jade Bastién, Vulture, 23 Oct. 2026
  • In 1990, Cole meets Jeffrey Goines, a fellow mental institution patient played with bug-eyed slipperiness by Brad Pitt, whose performance nabbed him his first Oscar nod.
    — Sara Netzley, Entertainment Weekly, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of slipperiness

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 14 Nov. 2026.

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