insidiousness

insidiousness

English

Etymology

insidious +‎ -ness

Noun

insidiousness (usually uncountable, plural insidiousnesses)

1. A surreptitious harmfulness, quality of entrapment, or treacherousness; the characteristic of being insidious.
   • 1900, Edith Wharton, The Touchstone, ch. 8,

     This lent a new insidiousness to his temptation, since her contempt would be a refuge from his own.

References

• insidiousness in An American Dictionary of the English Language, by Noah Webster, 1828.
• “insidiousness” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.