Insinuate

hard

in-SIN-yoo-ayt

verb

Definition

to hint or suggest indirectly, usually something unpleasant

Examples

He insinuated that her success was due to favoritism rather than merit.
She managed to insinuate herself into the family's confidence over months.

Synonyms

implyintimatehintsuggest

Antonyms

statedeclarespecifyassert

Categories

GRE Tip

Insinuate is a hard-difficulty GRE word. On the GRE, you might see it paired with synonyms like "imply" or "intimate" in Sentence Equivalence questions. Look for contrast clues (however, despite, although) that signal the opposite meaning. Words like "state".

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