Link Centre Dictionary

insinuate

in·si·nuate

US/ɪnˈsɪnjueɪt/ uncommon obsolete rare

verb

1.

introduce or insert (oneself) in a subtle manner

  • “He insinuated himself into the conversation of the people at the nearby table”
2.

give to understand

  • “I insinuated that I did not like his wife”
Synonyms

Origin

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.

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.