devious

adjective

de·​vi·​ous ˈdē-vē-əs 

-vyəs

1

a

: wandering, roundabout

a devious path

b

: moving without a fixed course : errant

devious breezes

2

: out-of-the-way, remote

upon devious coasts

3

a

: deviating from a right, accepted, or common course

devious conduct

b

: not straightforward : cunning

a devious politician

also : deceptive

a devious trick

a devious plot

deviously adverb

deviousness noun

Did you know?

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

• artful
• beguiling
• cagey
• cagy
• crafty
• cunning
• cute
• designing
• dodgy [chiefly British]
• foxy
• guileful
• scheming
• shrewd
• slick
• sly
• subtle
• tricky
• wily

Examples of devious in a Sentence

a dishonest and devious politician

He took us by a devious route to the center of the city.

Recent Examples on the Web

The scammers were devious, said Tom Galvin, executive director of Digital Citizens Alliance. —Bob Woods, CNBC, 8 Dec. 2024

Your solution is clever, if a bit devious and indirect. —Judith Martin, The Mercury News, 6 Dec. 2024

All the odds are on the man who is, intrinsically, the most devious and mediocre — the man who can most adeptly disperse the notion that his mind is a virtual vacuum. —Caroline Thayer, Fox News, 6 Nov. 2024

Jimmy Sangster's script for Maniac owes a few debts to classic French noir such as Diabolique and Louis Malle's Elevator to the Gallows, and director Michael Carreras is owed a great deal of praise for crafting a film that contains the same amount of excitement and devious pleasure as those movies. —Declan Gallagher, EW.com, 30 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Latin devius, from de from + via way — more at de-, way

First Known Use

1599, in the meaning defined at sense 2

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Kids Definition

devious

adjective

de·​vi·​ous ˈdē-vē-əs 

1

: straying from a straight course : roundabout

the devious trail that wound along the creek

leading through devious mazes

2

: sneaky, deceptive

a devious plan

got it by devious means

deviously adverb

deviousness noun