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Devious synonyms

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circuitous
Roundabout; indirect; devious
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  1. Roundabout; indirect; devious
  2. Being or taking a roundabout, lengthy course:
  3. Characterized by indirectness, evasiveness, or complexity, as in action or language:
tortuous
Highly involved; complex:
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  1. Highly involved; complex:
  2. Having or marked by repeated turns or bends; winding or twisting:
  3. Not straightforward; circuitous; devious:
evasive
Intentionally vague or ambiguous; equivocal:
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  1. Intentionally vague or ambiguous; equivocal:
  2. Hard to catch, grasp, etc.; elusive
  3. Tending or seeking to evade; not straightforward; tricky; equivocal
foxy
Having the characteristic flavor of fox grapes
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  1. Having the characteristic flavor of fox grapes
  2. Foxlike; crafty; wily; sly
  3. (Slang) Attractive, stylish, etc.; specif., sexually attractive
insidious
Characterized by treachery or slyness; crafty; wily
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  1. Characterized by treachery or slyness; crafty; wily
  2. Beguiling but harmful; alluring:
  3. Working harm in a slow or subtle manner; hence, more dangerous than seems evident
shrewd
Disposed to or marked by artful and cunning practices; tricky.
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  1. Disposed to or marked by artful and cunning practices; tricky.
  2. (Archaic) Keen; piercing; sharp
  3. Having or showing a clever awareness or resourcefulness, especially in practical matters.
underhanded
Underhand:
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  1. Underhand:
  2. Acting or done in a deceptive, secret, or sly manner; dishonest and sneaky.
  3. Sly, dishonest, corrupt, cheating.
disingenuous
Not noble; unbecoming true honor or dignity; mean; unworthy; fake or deceptive.
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  1. Not noble; unbecoming true honor or dignity; mean; unworthy; fake or deceptive.
  2. Not straightforward or candid; insincere or calculating:
  3. Slyly deceptive or misleading, typically by means of a pretense of ignorance or unawareness
duplicitous
Having duplicity; deceitful
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  1. Having duplicity; deceitful
  2. Given to or marked by deliberate deceptiveness in behavior or speech.
guileful
Full of guile; deceitfully or treacherously cunning.
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  1. Full of guile; deceitfully or treacherously cunning.
indirect
Diverging from a direct course; roundabout.
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  1. Diverging from a direct course; roundabout.
  2. Not directly planned for; secondary:
  3. Not direct
lubricious
Having a slippery or smooth quality:
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  1. Having a slippery or smooth quality:
  2. Full of or displaying sexual desire:
  3. Sexually stimulating; salacious:
shifty
Distinguished by frequent changes in direction:
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  1. Distinguished by frequent changes in direction:
  2. (Informal) Having or showing a tricky or deceitful nature; evasive
  3. Having, displaying, or suggestive of deceitful character; evasive or untrustworthy.
sneaky
Dishonest; deceitful
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  1. Dishonest; deceitful
  2. Of or like a sneak; underhanded
  3. Difficult to catch due to constantly outwitting the adversaries
underhand
(in various ball games, of a ball) thrown etc with the hand brought forward and up from below
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  1. (in various ball games, of a ball) thrown etc with the hand brought forward and up from below
  2. (By extension) dishonest and sneaky; done in a secret or sly manner
  3. Dishonest and sneaky; underhanded.
underhanded
Underhand:
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  1. Underhand:
  2. Acting or done in a deceptive, secret, or sly manner; dishonest and sneaky.
  3. Sly, dishonest, corrupt, cheating.
anfractuous
Full of twists, turns, and windings; roundabout; tortuous
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  1. Full of twists, turns, and windings; roundabout; tortuous
circuitous
Being or taking a roundabout, lengthy course:
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  1. Being or taking a roundabout, lengthy course:
  2. Characterized by indirectness, evasiveness, or complexity, as in action or language:
  3. Roundabout; indirect; devious
circular
Moving in or forming a circle.
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  1. Moving in or forming a circle.
  2. In the shape of a circle; round
  3. Using a premise to prove a conclusion that in turn is used to prove the premise:
indirect
Diverging from a direct course; roundabout.
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  1. Diverging from a direct course; roundabout.
  2. Reporting the exact or approximate words of another with such changes as are necessary to bring the original statement into grammatical conformity with the sentence in which it is included:
  3. Not direct
oblique
(Anatomy) Situated in a slanting position; not transverse or longitudinal:
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  1. (Anatomy) Situated in a slanting position; not transverse or longitudinal:
  2. (Bot.) Having the sides unequal, as some leaves
  3. (Geom.) With its axis not perpendicular to its base
roundabout
Encircling; enclosing; surrounding
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  1. Encircling; enclosing; surrounding
  2. Characterized by indirectness, evasiveness, or vagueness:
  3. Not straight or straightforward; indirect; circuitous
tortuous
Highly involved; complex:
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  1. Highly involved; complex:
  2. Having or marked by repeated turns or bends; winding or twisting:
  3. Not straightforward; circuitous; devious:
erratic
Deviating from the customary course in conduct or opinion; eccentric:
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  1. Deviating from the customary course in conduct or opinion; eccentric:
  2. Having no fixed or regular course; wandering:
  3. Lacking consistency, regularity, or uniformity:
stray
Occurring alone or infrequently; isolated; incidental
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  1. Occurring alone or infrequently; isolated; incidental
  2. Having strayed or wandered; lost
  3. Straying or having strayed; wandering or lost:
wandering
That wanders; moving from place to place; roaming, roving, straying, etc.
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  1. That wanders; moving from place to place; roaming, roving, straying, etc.
  2. That which wanders.
  3. Nomadic
Find another word for devious. In this page you can discover 33 synonyms, antonyms, idiomatic expressions, and related words for devious, like: dishonest, circuitous, roundable, tortuous, evasive, foxy, insidious, shrewd, underhanded, indirect and sly.

Sentence Examples

  • Our human thought pursues devious and circuitous methods.

  • After a devious chase of a month Hood moved across Alabama to northern Mississippi.

  • The difference between English and Roman miles would be compensated for by the more devious course taken by the railway.

  • She made raised maps in clay, so that I could feel the mountain ridges and valleys, and follow with my fingers the devious course of rivers.

  • The original road, too, adopted in imperial times a more devious but easier route by Aeclanum instead of by Trevicum.

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Words that mention devious in the Dictionary

Words near devious in the Thesaurus