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The "Lost" History of Devious
If you think someone devious has lost their way, you're right, etymologically speaking—the word derives from the Latin adjective devius, itself formed from the prefix de- ("from" or "away") and the noun via ("way"). When devious was first used in the 16th century, it implied a literal wandering off the way, suggesting something that meandered or had no fixed course (as in "a devious route" or "devious breezes"). Relatively quickly, however, the word came to describe someone or something that had left the right path metaphorically rather than literally, or to describe deceitful rather than straightforward behavior.
Synonyms
Examples of devious in a Sentence
Noel Murray, Vulture, 31 Oct. 2024
The only male character who polled lower than any woman on the list was Frank Underwood, played by Kevin Spacey, an insanely devious fictional president who was responsible for multiple murders on the Netflix drama.
—Judy Kurtz, The Hill, 29 Oct. 2024
Yet there's little-more devious than the increase in sextortion cases linked to the West African scammers.
—Matt Burgess, WIRED, 7 Sep. 2024
There’s certainly nothing helpless about Greta, who pirouettes with devious finesse into our dark, cold, tell-tale hearts.
—Nicholas Bell, SPIN, 4 Sep. 2024
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Dictionary Entries Near devious
Cite this Entry
“Devious.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/devious. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.
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devious
adjective
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