Make Your Point > Archived Issues > INSINUATE
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You're at the theater, midway through the movie. You turn around and tell the girl behind you, "Excuse me, but would you mind taking your phone into the lobby to finish your conversation?"
What you're not saying, but what you're insinuating, is "Shut up."
To insinuate something is to hint at it, to express it indirectly, to take the idea and--etymologically speaking--bend it, curve it, or wind it around on its way to the listener. The word insinuate is based on the Latin one for "bend, curve, or wind," the same one that gave us the word sinuses, and those math terms sine and cosine (remember how they squiggled across your graphs?), and that snakey-sounding adjective sinu___, meaning "curving back and forth."
Now, let's say you notice that insinuate is a bit similar, both in sound and in meaning, to the word innuendo. And let's say you blend the two into "insinuendo." And then your little blend, your portmanteau, catches on; more people say it and write it; it winds up in the Oxford English Dictionary. You should know that the notorious R.W.B. is going to slam your "insinuendo" as "a tasteless word," a slam which the OED will duly note and forevermore report.
Not sure who the notorious R.W.B. is? He's explained best by Joe McVeigh in this hilariously profane post: "Robert Burchfield. Teacher. Lexicographer. Original Gangster." Remember, I warned you about the profanity.
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make your point with...
"INSINUATE"
This word has Latin roots that literally mean "to curve in, to bend in, or to wind in."
To insinuate something is to hint at it without saying it directly.
And, to insinuate yourself into something is to sneak your way into it.
Pronunciation:
in SIN you ate
Part of speech:
Verb, the transitive kind: "we insinuated that they're liars," "the scene insinuates that the main character is a ghost," "they insinuated themselves into our conversation."
Other forms worth knowing:
insinuated, insinuating; insinuation; insinuator(s); insinuative
How to use it:
Most often, we use this formal, serious word to talk about people being indirect when it comes to uncomfortable topics.
Say that someone insinuates that something unpleasant is true ("He insinuated that their baby was ugly"), or that someone insinuates that something unpleasant happened ("She insinuated that their carelessness caused the accident").
You can drop the word "that" from those phrases, if you like: "He insinuated she's a racist." "She insinuated his mother never taught him any manners."
But, we can also use "insinuate" to talk about people and things that sneak themselves into situations where they don't belong. "She insinuated herself into our discussions." "This grammar error insinuated itself into our daily conversations." "The movie insinuates itself into the nation's conversation about race, but adds nothing to that conversation." "The textbook authors are attempting to insinuate religion into the public curriculum."
examples:
"How did palm oil insinuate itself into every corner of our lives? No single innovation caused palm oil consumption to soar. Instead, it was the perfect commodity at the right moment for industry after industry, each of which adopted it to replace ingredients and never turned back."
— Paul Tullis, The Guardian, 19 February 2019
"It was sometimes faintly insinuated, and sometimes boldly asserted, that the same bloody sacrifices, and the same incestuous festivals, which were so falsely ascribed to the orthodox believers, were in reality celebrated by the Marcionites, by the Carpocratians, and by several other sects of the Gnostics..."
— Edward Gibbon, History Of The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire, Volume 2, 1782
has this page helped you understand "insinuate"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "insinuate" without saying "imply" or "suggest."
try it out:
Fill in the blanks: "The (sight, sound, smell, taste, feel, or memory of something) (had some quality), insinuating itself into (some object, container, place, conversation, or setting)."
Example 1: "The stench was cruel, insinuating itself into the folds of his clothes." — Ian McEwan, Atonement, 2002
Example 2: "The burn of chlorinated water up her nose had been sharp, insinuating itself into her dreams."
before you review, play:
Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first.
Our game this month is "Inspired by, but in no way associated with, the game show Chain Reaction."
In each issue, try filling in both puzzles—the easier one and the tougher one—by supplying the terms to complete the chains.
From the previous issue:
An easier puzzle:
Coordinate
W___
Impunity
A tougher puzzle:
Kinetic
E_____
D____
Menu
Answers:
Coordinate
With
Impunity
Kinetic
Energy
Drink
Menu
Give these a try today:
An easier puzzle:
Virulent
D______
Eradication
A tougher puzzle:
Seismic
A_______
B___
Club
review this word:
1. In a literal sense, one opposite of INSINUATE is
A. ABSCOND.
B. BILK.
C. CHASTISE.
2. "What are you insinuating? Just _____."
A. do it
B. say it
C. take it
a final word:
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.
I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.
From my blog:
36 ways to study words.
Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.
Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.
You're at the theater, midway through the movie. You turn around and tell the girl behind you, "Excuse me, but would you mind taking your phone into the lobby to finish your conversation?"
"INSINUATE" This word has Latin roots that literally mean "to curve in, to bend in, or to wind in."
"How did palm oil insinuate itself into every corner of our lives? No single innovation caused palm oil consumption to soar. Instead, it was the perfect commodity at the right moment for industry after industry, each of which adopted it to replace ingredients and never turned back."
Explain the meaning of "insinuate" without saying "imply" or "suggest."
Fill in the blanks: "The (sight, sound, smell, taste, feel, or memory of something) (had some quality), insinuating itself into (some object, container, place, conversation, or setting)."
Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first.
1. In a literal sense, one opposite of INSINUATE is
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