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Webster 1913 Edition


Innuendo

Inˊnu-en′do

,
Noun.
;
pl.
Innuedoes
([GREEK]).
[L., by intimation, by hinting, gerund of
innuere
,
innutum
, to give a nod, to intimate; pref.
in-
in, to +
-nuere
(in comp.) to nod. See
Nutation
.]
1.
An oblique hint; a remote allusion or reference, usually derogatory to a person or thing not named; an insinuation.
Mercury . . . owns it a marriage by an
innuendo
.
Dryden.
Pursue your trade of scandal picking;
Your
innuendoes
, when you tell us,
That Stella loves to talk with fellows.
Swift.
2.
(Law)
An averment employed in pleading, to point the application of matter otherwise unintelligible; an interpretative parenthesis thrown into quoted matter to explain an obscure word or words; – as, the plaintiff avers that the defendant said that he (innuendo the plaintiff) was a thief.
Wharton.
Syn. – Insinuation; suggestion; hint; intimation; reference; allusion; implication; representation; –
Innuendo
,
Insinuation
.
An innuendo is an equivocal allusion so framed as to point distinctly at something which is injurious to the character or reputation of the person referred to. An insinuation turns on no such double use of language, but consists in artfully winding into the mind imputations of an injurious nature without making any direct charge.

Webster 1828 Edition


Innuendo

INNUEND'O

,
Noun.
[L. from innuo, to nod; in and nuo.]
1.
An oblique hint; a remote intimation or reference to a person or thing not named.
Mercury--owns it a marriage by innuendo.
2.
In law, a word used to point out the precise person.

Definition 2024


innuendo

innuendo

English

Alternative forms

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.

Translations


Latin

Verb

innuendō

  1. dative gerund of innuō