His intentions are insidious.
- (a)pious
- (b)inadvertent
- (c)deceitful
- (d)naive
Correct — C, deceitful. 'Insidious' describes something that works in a stealthy, treacherous way, doing harm while looking harmless. Applied to a man's intentions it says they are meant to mislead, and 'deceitful' is the option that names that hidden bad faith.
- (a)pious — 'Pious' means devoutly religious or dutiful, the opposite of the harmful purpose the sentence attributes to him.
- (b)inadvertent — 'Inadvertent' means unintentional. Insidious harm is fully intended and merely concealed, and the shared in- opening is the bait.
- (d)naive — 'Naive' means innocent and without guile, while an insidious intention is built on guile.
'Insidious' comes from the Latin insidiae, an ambush. It names harm that advances quietly and is noticed only once it has taken hold.
Many candidates meet the word first in medical writing, where an insidious disease creeps up unnoticed, and then look for an option about slowness or gradualness. Attached to a person's intentions the ambush sense comes uppermost, so the option naming concealed bad faith is the one to take.
- The Latin insidiae means an ambush or a trap.
- An insidious disease is one whose onset is gradual and unnoticed — the same idea of harm advancing unseen.
- Reading the in- of 'insidious' as a negative prefix and pairing it with 'inadvertent'.
- Limiting 'insidious' to the medical sense of slow onset.
Asked as a synonym item where the noun the adjective describes decides which shade of the word is being tested.
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Choose the phrase nearest in meaning to 'insidious'. The rumour had an insidious effect on the team's morale.
- (a)obvious
- (b)harmless
- (c)gradually harmful
- (d)encouraging
Answer(c) gradually harmful — insidious harm works quietly and is noticed late.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Choose the phrase nearest in meaning to 'treacherous'. The guide warned them about the treacherous path.
- (a)well marked
- (b)dangerously deceptive
- (c)crowded
- (d)scenic
Answer(b) dangerously deceptive — a treacherous path hides its dangers.