INSINUATES

Verb

insinuates

Third-person singular simple present indicative form of insinuate

Source: Wiktionary


INSINUATE

In*sin"u*ate, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Insinuated; p. pr. & vb. n. Insinuating.] Etym: [L. insinuatus, p. p. of insinuareto insinuate; pref. in- in + sinus the bosom. See Sinuous.]

1. To introduce gently or slowly, as by a winding or narrow passage, or a gentle, persistent movement. The water easily insinuates itself into, and placidly distends, the vessels of vegetables. Woodward.

2. To introduce artfully; to infuse gently; to instill. All the art of rhetoric, besides order and clearness, are for nothing else but to insinuate wrong ideas, move the passions, and thereby mislead the judgment. Locke. Horace laughs to shame all follies and insinuates virtue, rather by familiar examples than by the severity of precepts. Dryden.

3. To hint; to suggest by remote allusion; -- often used derogatorily; as, did you mean to insinuate anything

4. To push or work (one's self), as into favor; to introduce by slow, gentle, or artful means; to ingratiate; -- used reflexively. He insinuated himself into the very good grace of the Duke of Buckingham. Clarendon.

Syn.

– To instill; hint; suggest; intimate.

In*sin"u*ate, v. i.

1. To creep, wind, or flow in; to enter gently, slowly, or imperceptibly, as into crevices.

2. To ingratiate one's self; to obtain access or favor by flattery or cunning. He would insinuate with thee but to make thee sigh. Shak. To insinuate, flatter, bow, and bend my limbs. Shak.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

8 January 2025

SYCAMORE

(noun) Eurasian maple tree with pale grey bark that peels in flakes like that of a sycamore tree; leaves with five ovate lobes yellow in autumn


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Coffee Trivia

Some 16th-century Italian clergymen tried to ban coffee because they believed it to be “satanic.” However, Pope Clement VII loved coffee so much that he lifted the ban and had coffee baptized in 1600.

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