insinuate
/ɪnˈsɪnjueɪt/verb
insinuate is spelled I-N-S-I-N-U-A-T-E: 9 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 47,633rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, insinuate means “To hint; to suggest tacitly (usually something bad) while avoiding a direct statement” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in insinuate?
| Letters | 9: I-N-S-I-N-U-A-T-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 47,633rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is insinuate?
Insinuate appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 47,633rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce insinuate?
- US /ɪnˈsɪnjueɪt/
Insinuate has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-insinuate.ogg, En-au-insinuate.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of insinuate
- insinuates present, singular, he/she/it
- insinuating participle, present
- insinuated participle, past
- more insinuate comparative
- most insinuate superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does insinuate mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To hint; to suggest tacitly (usually something bad) while avoiding a direct statement.
She insinuated that her friends had betrayed her.
- 2
rareTo creep, wind, or flow into; to enter gently, slowly, or imperceptibly, as into crevices.
- 3
To ingratiate; to obtain access to or introduce something by subtle, cunning or artful means.
adjective
- 1
obsoleteInsinuated.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Insinuate in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | insinuer |
| German | andeuten, unterstellen, insinuieren , sich einschmeicheln, sich einschleichen |
| Portuguese | insinuar |
| Spanish | insinuar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does insinuate come from?
First attested in 1529; Borrowed from Latin īnsinuātus, perfect passive participle of īnsinuō (“to push in, creep in, steal in”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from in- (“in”) + sinus (“a winding, bend, bay, fold, bosom”) -ō (verb-forming suffix). Regular participial usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).