(a.) Out of a straight line; winding; varying from directness; as, a devious path or way.
(a.) Going out of the right or common course; going astray; erring; wandering; as, a devious step.
Example Sentences:
(1) Cholecystectomy provided successful treatment in three of the four patients but the fourth was too ill to undergo an operation; in general, definitive treatment is cholecystectomy, together with excision of the fistulous tract if this takes a direct path through the abdominal wall from the gallbladder, or curettage if the course is devious.
(2) He told the court: “We have been trying at the bar to imagine whether we can think of any other group of legal or natural persons, terrorist suspects, arms dealers, Jews, in respect of whose evidence one might even begin to think that one could tenably say, ‘Well, of course, in looking at this evidence I have been very careful because I know from the past that these people are a bit devious and a bit unworthy, and the only thing they’re really interested in is subverting public health.’ ” Yet last week’s judgment, running to 1,000 paragraphs, confirmed in excoriating detail just how determined big tobacco has been down the decades to achieve precisely this goal.
(3) "They are alert, cunning and devious individuals who have current knowledge of investigative methods and techniques which may be used against them," said an internal report.
(4) In the interim, Gough had also played a devious old friend of the Doctor – by now, Peter Davison – in the 1983 story Arc of Infinity.
(5) Ideally they should also possess the sort of clipped tones that make vulgarities sound like Virgil and the sort of wardrobe that dresses up deviousness as a gentleman's sport.
(6) You're a devious villain conducting the perfect crime, like the dashing guest star in the opening scene of a classic Columbo.
(7) This is in part due to planned obsolescence – a devious ploy by manufacturers bolstered by marketing strategies to make us fall out of love with a product hastily.
(8) In the maximum likelihood (ML) method for estimating a molecular phylogenetic tree, the pattern of nucleotide substitutions for computing likelihood values is assumed to be simpler than that of the actual evolutionary process, simply because the process, considered to be quite devious, is unknown.
(9) But all of these arguments, Anderson implied, fell on deaf ears because of what he called the “myth of tobacco exceptionalism” – the view that manufacturers are “uniquely devious”.
(10) "While millions of working people are either without work, or having their pay frozen or slashed, Britain's boardrooms are finding even more devious ways to squeeze even more cash from their companies," said the general secretary, Len McCluskey.
(11) But, at heart, Harper’s team are not that different from politicians across the developed world who have discovered that democracy is a pretty sweet theory but that, in reality, if you want to get hold of power and use it, there are all kinds of devious moves available that have very little to do with that antique idea.
(12) These presentations of the devious ease with which the Vatican dissembles also clearly serve as a metaphor for the Catholic church’s unwillingness to address the scandals of priestly paedophilia.
(13) They can change their name but it’s the same thing – if people are wise, they will see it is the devious politics of the hard left.” In response to complaints about the email, a Corbyn campaign spokesman said: “At this crucial time for our party and our country, it is essential that we bring Labour together.
(14) During the trial's closing arguments Donald's lawyer, Max Blecher, accused Shelly of an "unconscionable", "devious" and "invidious" scheme to strip him of the Clippers.
(15) There aren’t enough Trotskyists, entryists, devious Tories and random renegades to explain such an overwhelming victory.
(16) The mining magnate says Brough, who is contesting former Speaker Peter Slipper's Sunshine Coast seat of Fisher, has been devious over the James Ashby affair.
(17) In the UK, the doughty chair of the public accounts committee, Margaret Hodge, investigating Google for tax avoidance has denounced the firm as "devious", "calculating … and manipulating".
(18) The 12 Years a Slave star is perhaps Lee’s most high-profile find , but others who have found success from the Showcases include Randall Park who stars in the upcoming series Fresh off the Boat, as well as Grey’s Anatomy star Jesse Williams, Chadwick Boseman (42) and Dania Ramirez (Devious Maids).
(19) The book described Charles’s court as so riven by infighting that it is known by insiders as “Wolf Hall”, after Hilary Mantel’s fictional portrayal of Thomas Cromwell’s devious machinations on behalf of King Henry VIII.
(20) The model stipulates that given exposure to sustained aversive maternal control and a maternal communication style which is subtle and devious, the child comes to adapt with approach, stratagem-based behaviours and heightened vigilance for evaluative information (i.e.
Mischievous
Definition:
(a.) Causing mischief; harmful; hurtful; -- now often applied where the evil is done carelessly or in sport; as, a mischievous child.
Example Sentences:
(1) The appearance of a band with lean, spiky songs, high cheekbones and excellent trousers was therefore the cause of considerable excitement, to which they mischievously alluded in the title of their debut album, Is This It.
(2) In response, the ANC secretary-general, Gwede Mantashe, said the critics were "mischievous" and the party should be allowed to run its own affairs.
(3) You don't have to be against the minority of SAHMBY (stay-at-home mothers by choice) to consider their involvement in this debate a complete, and sometimes mischievous, distraction.
(4) It hasn’t helped that one mischievous customer appears to have added a crease to the carton on the right to make it look even more like a penis.
(5) "I want to reassure my friend Eduardo that there is no chance of me hanging on to the Olympic flag at the closing ceremony", joked Johnson, before adding mischievously "As protocol demands I will be handing it over to Eduardo — probably."
(6) Three seasons in the media spotlight in Madrid have clearly done him no harm, and when a potentially mischievous question comes along about England temporarily transferring their support to Wales he defuses it politely and diplomatically.
(7) Moir, who has won a British Press Award, made a statement defending her column late on Friday, saying it was not her intention to offend, blaming a "heavily orchestrated internet campaign" for the furore and adding that it was "mischievous in the extreme to suggest that my article has homophobic and bigoted undertones".
(8) The final seconds of the movie are the most memorable, in which Smokey assures Big Worm he’s going to rehab, before hanging up the phone and lighting a joint with a mischievous grin to the camera.
(9) These fairies have sharp, mischievous features, quite different from the later fairies of Bethlem.
(10) Prime ministers are very useful to a treasurer,” Keating said mischievously, and Hawke and I had a great relationship until he “produced a nasty little book”.
(11) The first point to note is that Sally's spirit guides were in a particularly mischievous mood during the reading, because they persuaded Sally to make statements such as: Sally: Is there the name Robyn?
(12) What is not so well known is his mischievous streak.
(13) The moderator of the conference demanded that Aydin switch to Turkish; a fellow Kurd came mischievously onto the platform to translate.
(14) Richard E Grant and Anna Chancellor join the cast, with Grant playing a guest of the Granthams and Chancellor the mischievous Lady Anstruther.
(15) At the time, a friend of Rennard told the BBC the "shocking and mischievous" leak was "in total defiance of fair process" and had caused great distress to the peer.
(16) Outside of the octagon, Bisping possesses the demeanour of an oversized Ricky Hatton - all mischievous grins, wisecracks and gentle ribbing of his sparring partners.
(17) Updated at 10.58am BST 10.55am BST Is the chancellor being too dramatic by declaring this morning that NO Help To Buy mortgages can be granted at more than 4.5 times the borrowers' income, asks a mischievous Robert Peston.
(18) He bubbles with mischievous excitement, recounting the range of thugs, creeps and gorgeous males who fell under his spell ("It was like a conduit had opened").
(19) Raphael wrote: “We believe our audience is sophisticated enough to accept a broad range of viewpoints, and we are loth to censor or avoid significant works of literature because they might be controversial.” BBC Radio 4 Publicity said online: “In Hilary Mantel’s mischievous story, a knock at the door announces an unexpected visitor who has plans to alter the course of history as people know it.
(20) For his part, Mr Taleb may have felt mischievously reported.