treacherous
/ˈtrɛtʃ(ə)rəs
/adjective
1Guilty of or involving betrayal or deception: a treacherous Gestapo agent memory is particularly treacherous...
- Josh had been promoted recently because of a treacherous betrayal by the old Number Four.
- For example, he embodied animals that were weak, cowardly, false, and treacherous.
- They are not deceitful or treacherous in their conduct and are faithful to their oaths and promises.
Synonyms
traitorous, disloyal, perfidious, faithless, unfaithful, duplicitous, false-hearted, deceitful, false, untrue, back-stabbing, double-crossing, double-dealing, two-faced, Janus-faced, untrustworthy, unreliable, undependable, fickle;
apostate, renegade, subversive, seditious, rebellious, mutinous, breakaway;
treasonable, treasonous
informal two-timing
rare Punic
2(Of ground, water, conditions, etc.) presenting hidden or unpredictable dangers: a holidaymaker was swept away by treacherous currents...
- My inertia in not pushing it backwards into a safe zone is as guilty for the shattered glass as the treacherous wind.
- On that day Couples' tee-shot to Golden Bell, the treacherous par three, clung miraculously to the bank of the Creek.
- The views open out to the north-east, across the treacherous Pentland Firth to Orkney, as you reach Portskerra pier.
Synonyms
dangerous, hazardous, perilous, unsafe, precarious, risky, deceptive, unreliable, undependable, unstable;
icy, ice-covered, slippery, glassy
informal dicey, hairy, slippy
North American informal gnarly
Derivatives
treacherously
/ adverb ...- As it was, hopeful rather than thoughtful balls were plummeted into a two man full-forward line that had virtually no chance of securing possession given the tendency of the ball to skid away from them on the treacherously greasy surface.
- It rained heavily during the afternoon, which made the stages very muddy and treacherously slippy.
- I defy anyone who hasn't read the book to decipher this film, to understand the implications, motivations and emotional complexities of a story dependent on treacherously subtle codes of conduct.
treacherousness
- The introduction speaks of the harshness and treacherousness of the Antarctic - so much so that I actually felt a chill.
- Fairbanks is made out to be a pretty dangerous town with flights in the winter operating perhaps only a few times a week due to the difficulty and treacherousness of getting around the ice fog.
- Thus far, their collected data confirm the treacherousness of the bottom.
Origin
Middle English (in sense 1): from Old French trecherous, from trecheor 'a cheat', from trechier 'to cheat'.