insinuative

Also found in: Thesaurus, Idioms.

in·sin·u·ate

(ĭn-sĭn′yo͞o-āt′)

v. in·sin·u·at·ed, in·sin·u·at·ing, in·sin·u·ates

v.tr.

1. To express or otherwise convey (a thought, for example) in an indirect or insidious way. See Synonyms at suggest.

a. To maneuver or insert (oneself) into a place: "One of the boys insinuated himself next to me and squeezed my hand" (Caroline Preston).

b. To cause (oneself) to be involved or accepted by subtle and artful means: insinuated himself into court intrigues; insinuated herself into my good graces.

v.intr.

To make insinuations.

[Latin īnsinuāre, īnsinuāt- : in-, in; see in-² + sinuāre, to curve (from sinus, curve).]

in·sin′u·a′tive adj.

in·sin′u·a′tor n.

in·sin′u·a·tor′y (-yo͞o-ə-tôr′ē) adj.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

insinuative

adjective

Provoking a change of outlook and especially gradual doubt and suspicion:

insinuating, insinuatory, suggestive.

Mentioned in ?

References in periodicals archive ?

For the avoidance of doubt, the entire publication by myjoyonline.com, from it so called exclusive source, is factually inaccurate, false, insinuative and malicious.

I've done nothing wrong in UT Bank loan debacle -Afenyo Markin

The complaint further stated, "The offensive material is not only false, but frivoious, defamatory, abusive and insinuative and has been done with the intention to insult and libel me and cause a scandal by slandering and slurring my character."

Raju Srivastav files complaint against using his image in anti-BJP message

In tweet 1, the most retweeted in this sample, Modi used a mix of wordplay and sarcasm to attack Defense Minister A K Antony by using the "AK" alliteration to juxtapose Antony with Kalashnikovs (guns) in an insinuative reference to the Kashmir conflict.