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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.
Examples of devious in a Sentence
Marco Della Cava, USA TODAY, 10 Mar. 2025
This devious methodology tricked Google’s Play Store defenses by using a vanilla version of the app as an initial trojan horse before updating with the fraudulent ad code, an update not a new app.
—Zak Doffman, Forbes, 5 Mar. 2025
The devious texts have a truthful air, as they are connected to recent news.
—Kate Gibson, CBS News, 17 Feb. 2025
Gossip Girl Trachtenberg was beloved as a devious villain in the original Gossip Girl run.
—Angela Andaloro, People.com, 26 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for devious
Cite this Entry
“Devious.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/devious. Accessed 15 Mar. 2025.
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devious
adjective
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