treacherous Definition
treach·er·ous (trec̸h′ər əs)
adjective
- characterized by treachery; traitorous; disloyal; perfidious
- giving a false appearance of safety or reliability; untrustworthy or insecure treacherous rocks
Etymology: ME trecherous < OFr trecheros
treacherous Related Forms
treacherous Synonyms
treacherous
modif.
Traitorous
treasonable, falsehearted, unfaithful, faithless; see false 1.Unreliable
deceptive, undependable, dangerous, risky, misleading, tricky, dissembled, untrustworthy, deceitful, false, twofaced, ensnaring, faulty, precarious, unstable, insecure, shaky, slippery, ticklish, difficult, ominous, alarming, menacing. Antonyms
reliable*, dependable*, steady. See syn. study at faithless.faithless.
treacherous Usage Examples
Preposition: in
- weather: The area can be treacherous in poor weather, low cloud can reduce visibility within minutes.
- place: Rain overnight had made conditions underfoot a little treacherous in places for those without off-road shoes.
- way: We hope that they have joined with wild herds - a solitary life for a very young elephant would be treacherous in many ways.
Adjective complement with noun phrase
make: The journey there took longer than expected with the huge gales having made the roads rather treacherous.
Modifies a noun
- terrain: At 2200 hours, the force began the 12 mile walk over treacherous terrain on a dark night.
- bog: In general they are seen as malevolent, guiding lone travelers into treacherous bogs.
- reef: The coastline is rugged, with treacherous reefs stretching far out to sea to wreck unwary ships.
- coastline: The spectacular natural beauty of the islands hides a treacherous coastline that has seen many ships founder.
- computing: RMS: The main issues are hardware with secret specifications, software patents, and treacherous computing.
- journey: Yet after long years of exile, their homeland calls and the family makes the treacherous journey back to Spain.
Modifying Another Word
- sometimes: With his endearing yet cynical wit, Malcolm navigates his way through the sometimes treacherous, always entertaining waters of childhood.
- very: A rescue official said: " The mud in that area is very treacherous.
- so: Yes, they must be strict with us, Even in death so treacherous!
- potentially: Be warned, however, that road surfaces are variable and potentially treacherous after heavy rain when potholes may be disguised.
- particularly: Courageously he leaped into the Ouse, which is known to be particularly treacherous in this spot, but was unable to find him.
- quite: We did have some sunshine but we also cycled through tropical rain on several days, which made some routes quite treacherous.
Used with adjective complement
- become: However with snow covering the mountain side this became pretty treacherous.
- prove: But like tides, wind and swell compounded, their cocktail has proven treacherous.
- remain: The weather remained treacherous, going from calm to storm with no warning.
- feel: When was the last time she'd felt so tinglingly treacherous?
Browse dictionary entries near treacherous
- ‹ tray
- ‹ trawler
- ‹ trawl
- ‹ travois
- ‹ travesty
- ‹ travertine
- ‹ traverse jury
- ‹ traverse
- ‹ Travers, P(amela) L(yndon)
- ‹ Travers, P
- treacherously ›
- treachery ›
- treacle ›
- tread ›
- treadle ›
- treadmill ›
- treas ›
- treason ›
- treasonable ›
- treasonous ›

