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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.
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Examples of devious in a Sentence
Editorial, Boston Herald, 1 Feb. 2025
When a predator descends to snack on the spider, it is met instead with the jaws of the devious snake.
—Ryley Graham, Smithsonian Magazine, 29 Jan. 2025
It feels directly dragged out of the 1980s and early 1990s, a time when Hollywood was devoted to turning out swarms of action flicks in which some flawed and downtrodden but good-hearted hero thwarts a devious conspiracy or an impending alien invasion or whatever.
—Alissa Wilkinson, New York Times, 23 Jan. 2025
Companion, a devious dark comedy from writer-director Drew Hancock, begins with an adorkable meet-cute at a grocery store.
—Alison Willmore, Vulture, 22 Jan. 2025
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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 8 Feb. 2025.
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devious
adjective
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