INSIDIOUSNESS Synonyms: 71 Similar and Opposite Words

insidiousness

noun

as in underhandedness

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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

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

Unlike Gregor Samsa who is confined to his room after transforming into a huge insect, the protagonist still has to go to work, a dark and bleak absurdity that lays bare the alienation, isolation, and hypocrisy of modern life.

— Deadline, Deadline, 14 Oct. 2026
Trump, in a Truth Social post, accused the media of hypocrisy for allegedly refusing to cover past purchases of Russian energy by the European Union.

— Kevin Breuninger, CNBC, 12 Oct. 2026

Definition of hypocrisy

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

Perhaps that’s why the studio’s new reliance upon computer trickery — courtesy of a collaboration with Wētā FX — feels more like more of a symptom of Prue’s crisis than part of the solution to it.

— David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 11 Oct. 2026
Thursday is The New York Times’s favorite day of the week to publish crosswords with twists, surprises or extra layers of trickery to puzzle over.

— Sean McGowan, New York Times, 1 Oct. 2026

Definition of trickery

Noun

Hosted by Alan Cumming, the social deduction game follows a group of contestants (who are sometimes celebrities) engaging in a Mafia or Werewolf-style game of deception.

— Ethan Shanfeld, Variety, 13 Oct. 2026
With shifting alliances and deception, only the most calculating player will survive to win it all, per the logline.

— Peter White, Deadline, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of deception

Noun

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
That factual slipperiness might matter less if the psychology connected more deeply.

— Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 5 Sep. 2026

Definition of slipperiness

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insidiousness

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“Insidiousness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/insidiousness. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of insidiousness

noun

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