insinuate

Definition

To hint; to suggest tacitly (usually something bad) while avoiding a direct statement.

Etymology

First attested in 1529; Borrowed from Latin īnsinuātus, perfect passive participle of īnsinuō (“to push in, creep in, steal in”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from in- (“in”) + sinus (“a winding, bend, bay, fold, bosom”) -ō (verb-forming suffix). Regular participial usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English.

Example Sentences

• "She insinuated that her friends had betrayed her."
• "And wilt thou inſinuate what I am? and praiſe me? And ſay I am a Noble Fellow?"
• "And, moreover, you need not for a moment to insinuate that the virtues have taken refuge in cottages and wholly abandoned slated houses."

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