Definition of Innuendo

1. Noun. An indirect (and usually malicious) implication.

Exact synonyms: Insinuation
Generic synonyms: Implication
Derivative terms: Insinuate

Definition of Innuendo

1. n. An oblique hint; a remote allusion or reference, usually derogatory to a person or thing not named; an insinuation.

Definition of Innuendo

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

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Innuendo

1. to make a derogatory implication [v -ED, -ING, -S or -ES]

Medical Definition of Innuendo

1. Origin: 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. 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. The term is so applied from having been the introductory word of this averment or parenthetic explanation when pleadings were in Latin. The word "meaning" is used as its equivalent in modern forms. Synonym: 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. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Innuendo

innovational
innovationist
innovations
innovative
innovatively
innovativeness
innovator
innovators
innovatory
innovatour
innovatrix
innoxious
inns
innubilous
innuendis
innuendo (current term)
innuendoed
innuendoes
innuendoing
innuendos
innuit
innumerability
innumerable
innumerableness
innumerably
innumeracies
innumeracy
innumerate
innumerates
innumerous

Literary usage of Innuendo

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. A Complete Collection of State Trials and Proceedings for High Treason and ...by Thomas Bayly Howell, William Cobbett by Thomas Bayly Howell, William Cobbett (1816)
"Von look like a man of courage and wit, therefore less discourse may serve with you (pred' Tho- 111:411 innuendo) than another, so that if you will but move ..."

2. Judicial and Statutory Definitions of Words and Phrases by West Publishing Company (1904)
""An innuendo does not enlarge the matter set forth in the other portions of the complaint. ... An innuendo, 1n the law of pleading relative to libel cases, ..."

3. The Encyclopædia of Pleading and Practice: Under the Codes and Practice Acts by William Mark McKinney, Thomas Johnson Michie (1898)
"On the other hand, an innuendo cannot limit or restrain the natural sense or import of the words used.1 It is not sufficient that facts to show the ..."

4. A Digest of the Law of Libel and Slander: And of Actions on the Case for by William Blake Odgers, James Bromley Eames (1905)
"Evidence as to the innuendo. A Statement of Claim which contains an innuendo is equivalent to a declaration under the old system with two counts, ..."

5. The Law of Libel and Slander in Civil and Criminal Cases: As Administered in by Martin L. Newell (1898)
"He will not be allowed in the middle of the trial to start a fresh innuendo not in the pleadings; he must abide by the construction put on the words in his ..."

6. Rights, Remedies, and Practice, at Law, in Equity, and Under the Codes: A by John Davison Lawson (1890)
"The innuendo — The Colloquium. — The innuendo is a statement by the ... Where the words prima facie are not actionable, an innuendo is essential to the ..."

7. A Digest of the Law of Libel and Slander: The Evidence, Procedure, and by William Blake Odgers (1887)
"But he cannot in the middle of the case start a fresh innuendo not on the record; he must abide by the construction he put on the words in his statement of ..."

8. Cobbett's Complete Collection of State Trials and Proceedings for High ...by William Cobbett by William Cobbett (1812)
"Some short time after, I (pred' Thomam innuendo) went to wait on his lordship (pred' Comit' Peterborough innuendo) from the lady Powis at midnight, ..."

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