insidioso

[ĩnsiˈð̞joso]

/[ĩnsiˈð̞joso]/ adj

The verdict

“insidioso” is uncommon Spanish (frequency #75,571 among 3,428 “I” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#75,571
frequency rank, Spanish
3,428
“I” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Dícese del que tiende a armar asechanzas.

Corpus desk

Index ES-insidioso · insidioso · Spanish

insidioso · rank #75,571 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #75,571
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,428
  • PHOTO-FINISH insert

Nearest frequency peer: insert (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rangos de cola larga cerca de “insidioso”

Banda escasa: las barras invierten el rango para que lo raro se lea más corto

corpus weight

What this shows Vista de cola larga: dónde “insidioso” se sitúa frente a rangos españoles igualmente raros.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for insidioso
PropertyValue
Headwordinsidioso
LanguageSpanish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA[ĩnsiˈð̞joso]
Letters9
Frequency rank#75,571
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Cola larga: rango de “insidioso” en español

La frecuencia va del puñado de palabras que usamos sin parar (izquierda) a la cola larga que apenas aparece (derecha).insidiosocae en esta cola de rareza:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

La escala es logarítmica (cada marca ≈ 10× más rara). Vecinos raros de la misma franja: “insert” (#75,570), “insistirá” (#75,572), “inquietan” (#75,569). Entre 3,428 lemas con “I”, “insidioso” va en #75,571. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

insidioso is uncommon Spanish at frequency #75,571 among 3,428 “I” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed [ĩnsiˈð̞joso]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

insidioso has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct Spanish form is insidioso, spelled I-N-S-I-D-I-O-S-O.

Definition

  1. 1
    Dícese del que tiende a armar asechanzas.
  2. 2
    De apariencia inocente, pero malvado; referido a la apariencia de inocencia, inocuidad, pero cuyos fines son perversos.
  3. 3
    Que produce daño de manera sigilosa, a veces gradual.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how insidioso appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Mucho, mucho debió quererla para escuchar tantos años sus insidiosas palabras, para permitirle que le desgarrase así, suave y laboriosamente, el corazón.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 Spanish corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "insidioso"?
"insidioso" is spelled I-N-S-I-D-I-O-S-O. The IPA pronunciation is [ĩnsiˈð̞joso].
What does "insidioso" mean?
As an adjective, "insidioso" means: Dícese del que tiende a armar asechanzas.
How do you pronounce "insidioso"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "insidioso" is [ĩnsiˈð̞joso]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "insidioso" come from?
"insidioso" is a Spanish word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar Spanish words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "insidioso", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked Spanish headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list