In junior high and high schools, they say insidious forms of bullying are on the rise.
Source: tatoeba (277473)
Insidious
//ɪnˈsɪdi.əs//
Synonyms for "insidious" (165 found)
Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Closest matches (33)
Strong matches (50)
Related words (82)
perfidiousperilousperniciouspoliticquestionablereadyresourcefulrottenschemingseductiveserpentineshadyshamelesssharpshiftyshrewdsinisterslickslipperysly
Show 33 more words
smoothsnakysneakysophisticalstealthystrategicsubtilesubtlesupplesurreptitioussuspicioustacticaltreacheroustrickishtricksytrickytwo facedtwo-facedunconsciencedunconscientiousunconscionableunderhandunderhandedunethicalunprincipledunsavoryunscrupulousunstraightforwardvulpinewarywilywithout remorsewithout shame
Adjective(27 words)
perfidiousproditoriousproditorypunicratlikerecreantrenegadereptilianreptitioussubtleswiketraitorishtraitorliketraitorlytraitoroustraitorsometreacheroustreachersometreasonoustrothless
Show 7 more words
Adjective(2 words)
Related word relations
OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.
Synonyms
1 entriesderived
3 entrieshas context
1 entriesrelated to
7 entriessimilar
6 entriesTranslations
48 translations across 26 languages.
Armenian
1 entries- նենգ adj (causing harm in a stealthy, often gradual, manner)
Bulgarian
3 entries- коварен adj (causing harm in a stealthy, often gradual, manner)
- коварен adj (intending to entrap)
- лукав adj (intending to entrap)
Catalan
1 entries- insidiós adj (intending to entrap)
Chinese Mandarin
3 entries- 潛移默化的 /潜移默化的 adj (causing harm in a stealthy, often gradual, manner)
- 狡詐 /狡诈 adj (causing harm in a stealthy, often gradual, manner)
- 陰險 /阴险 adj (causing harm in a stealthy, often gradual, manner)
Czech
1 entries- zákeřný adj (causing harm in a stealthy, often gradual, manner)
Danish
1 entries- lumsk adj (causing harm in a stealthy, often gradual, manner)
Dutch
2 entries- sluipend adj (causing harm in a stealthy, often gradual, manner)
- verraderlijk adj (causing harm in a stealthy, often gradual, manner)
Esperanto
1 entries- insida adj (causing harm in a stealthy, often gradual, manner)
Finnish
3 entries- juonikas adj (intending to entrap)
- salakavala adj (causing harm in a stealthy, often gradual, manner)
- salakavala adj (intending to entrap)
French
1 entries- insidieux adj (causing harm in a stealthy, often gradual, manner)
German
4 entries- heimtückisch adj (causing harm in a stealthy, often gradual, manner)
- heimtückisch adj (intending to entrap)
- hinterhältig adj (intending to entrap)
- hinterlistig adj (intending to entrap)
Ingrian
1 entries- salakavala adj (intending to entrap)
Italian
2 entries- insidioso adj (causing harm in a stealthy, often gradual, manner)
- subdolo adj (intending to entrap)
Khmer
1 entries- ដែលបញ្ឆោត adj (causing harm in a stealthy, often gradual, manner)
Latin
1 entries- insidiosus adj (causing harm in a stealthy, often gradual, manner)
Macedonian
1 entries- подмолен adj (causing harm in a stealthy, often gradual, manner)
Māori
1 entries- toropuku adj (causing harm in a stealthy, often gradual, manner)
Ottoman Turkish
1 entries- آصمق adj (causing harm in a stealthy, often gradual, manner)
Polish
3 entries- podstępny adj (causing harm in a stealthy, often gradual, manner)
- zdradliwy adj (causing harm in a stealthy, often gradual, manner)
- zdradziecki adj (causing harm in a stealthy, often gradual, manner)
Portuguese
2 entries- insidiador adj (intending to entrap)
- insidioso adj (causing harm in a stealthy, often gradual, manner)
Romanian
1 entries- insidios adj (causing harm in a stealthy, often gradual, manner)
Russian
4 entries- кова́рный adj (causing harm in a stealthy, often gradual, manner)
- кова́рный adj (intending to entrap)
- скры́тый adj (causing harm in a stealthy, often gradual, manner)
- хи́трый adj (causing harm in a stealthy, often gradual, manner)
Serbo-Croatian
2 entries- škodljiv adj (causing harm in a stealthy, often gradual, manner)
- шкодљив adj (causing harm in a stealthy, often gradual, manner)
Spanish
2 entries- insidioso adj (causing harm in a stealthy, often gradual, manner)
- insidioso adj (intending to entrap)
Swedish
3 entries- förrädisk adj (intending to entrap)
- försåtlig adj (causing harm in a stealthy, often gradual, manner)
- lömsk adj (causing harm in a stealthy, often gradual, manner)
Turkish
1 entries- sinsice adj (causing harm in a stealthy, often gradual, manner)
Sample sentences
25 total sentences available.
Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the government's purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil-minded rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding.
Source: tatoeba (906994)
We are working against an enemy who is very insidious in his methods.
Source: tatoeba (2654487)
That's a very insidious disease. You don't notice it until it's too late.
Source: tatoeba (2874243)
Showing 4 of 25 available sentences.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.