innuendo

Plural: innuendis, innuendoes, innuendos

Noun

• an indirect (and usually malicious) implication
• A derogatory hint or reference to, or (often sexual) insinuation about, a person or thing.
• A remark that is suggestive of something sexual without stating it explicitly.
• A rhetorical device with an omitted, but obvious conclusion, made to increase the force of an argument.
• Part of a pleading in cases of libel and slander, pointing out what and who was meant by the libellous matter or description.

Verb

Verb Forms: innuendoed, innuendoing, innuendos, innuendoes

• To make an indirect and often derogatory suggestion.
• To interpret (something libellous or slanderous) in terms of what was implied.

Examples

• His opponent tried to innuendo that he was looking up words, but it was just a bluff.
• She made a devious innuendo about her opponent, who was embarrassed.

Synonyms

insinuation

Anagrams of innuendo