innuendo

English

Alternative forms

• (archaic) inuendo

Etymology

From the Latin innuendō (“by nodding”), ablative singular form of innuendum (“a nodding”), gerund of innuō (“I give a nod”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌɪnjuˈɛndəʊ/
• Rhymes: -ɛndəʊ

• Audio (UK)

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• Audio (US)

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Noun

innuendo (plural innuendoes or innuendos or innuendis)

1. A derogatory hint or reference to a person or thing. An implication, intimation or insinuation.

   She made a devious innuendo about her husband, who was embarrassed.

2. (logic) A rhetorical device with an omitted, but obvious conclusion, made to increase the force of an argument.
3. (law) Part of a pleading in cases of libel and slander, pointing out what and who was meant by the libellous matter or description.

Derived terms

• innuendous

Translations

A derogatory hint or reference to a person or thing, an implication or insinuation

• Arabic: تَلْمِيح‎ m (talmīḥ)
• Armenian: ակնարկ (hy) (aknark)
• Bulgarian: инсинуация (bg) f (insinuacija)
• Catalan: insinuació (ca) f, indirecta f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 影射 (zh) (yǐng shè)

• Czech: narážka (cs) f
• Danish: hentydning c, insinuation (da) c, antydning c
• Dutch: insinuatie (nl) f
• Finnish: vihjaus (fi)
• French: insinuation (fr) f, sous-entendu (fr) m
• German: Anspielung (de) f
• Greek: υπονοούμενο (el) n (yponooúmeno), υπαινιγμός (el) m (ypainigmós)
• Hebrew: רמיזה‎ f (remiza)

• Hungarian: célzás (hu), utalás (hu)
• Italian: insinuazione (it)
• Japanese: 当て付けがましい (atetsukegamashii)
• Norwegian: insinuasjon m

  Bokmål: hentydning m or f, antydning m

• Polish: insynuacja (pl) f
• Portuguese: insinuação (pt), indireta (pt)
• Russian: намёк (ru) m (namjók)
• Serbo-Croatian: insinuacija (sh), aluzija (sh)
• Slovak: narážka, poznámka
• Spanish: insinuación (es) f, indirecta f
• Swedish: anspelning (sv) c, allusion (sv) c, insinuation (sv) c
• Telugu: అన్యాపదేశము (te) (anyāpadēśamu)
• Turkish: kinaye (tr), gönderme (tr)

Verb

innuendo (third-person singular simple present innuendos, present participle innuendoing, simple past and past participle innuendoed)

1. (transitive, law) To interpret (something libellous or slanderous) in terms of what was implied.
   • 1894, Frank Towers Cooper, A Handbook of the Law of Defamation and Verbal Injury (page 119)

     A statement that a person's presence at a certain club may be "irksome," may be innuendoed that the person is of such bad character as not to be a fit associate with honourable men.

Further reading

• Innuendo on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Innuendo in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

Anagrams

• dunnione

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Latin

Verb

innuendō

1. dative gerund of innuō