deviating from a straight course; " a scenic but devious route"; " a long and circuitous journey by train and boat"; " a roundabout route avoided rush- hour traffic"

characterized by insincerity or deceit; evasive; " a devious character"; " shifty eyes"

indirect in departing from the accepted or proper way; misleading; " used devious means to achieve success"; " gave oblique answers to direct questions"; " oblique political maneuvers"

Out of a straight line; winding; varying from directness; as, a devious path or way.

Going out of the right or common course; going astray; erring; wandering; as, a devious step.

Indirect; rambling; circuitous or round- about; straying from the way of right and duty.

Deviously.

Deviousness.

From or out of the way: erring.

Straying; wandering.

Winding about; rambling.

Off the common way or track; rambling; erring.

Out of the common track; wandering; roving; going astray.

See deviate.

We must walk in new ways, or we can never encounter our enemy in his devious march. – The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. V. (of 12) by Edmund Burke

Every day he seemed more distant, and she followed him patiently, hopefully, blindly, but steadily, through all the devious wanderings of his mind. – An Outcast of the Islands by Joseph Conrad

As I thus stood, transfixed with wonder, I began to grow painfully conscious of the injuries I had received in the scuffle; skulked round among the sand- hills; and, by a devious path, regained the shelter of the wood. – New-Arabian-Nights by Stevenson, Robert Louis

By devious ways it was that Eddie led them out of that sinister country surrounding the Sinks. – Cow-Country by B. M. Bower

He was a clever man, trained in the devious ways of the Wilhelmstrasse, and when he set out to accomplish something he was almost inevitably successful. – The Man Who Rocked the Earth by Arthur Train Robert Williams Wood

The scene so vividly described in the charming ballad we are considering is a little valley through which Herring Brook pursues its devious way to meet the tidal waters of North River. – The Romance of Old New England Rooftrees by Mary Caroline Crawford

She let Pip- Emma lead her by devious paths through the deserted kitchen. – The Underpup by I. A. R. Wylie

The wondering Parcea looked and smiled, As the light grew into the soul of a child, And in and out and through devious ways, They wove it in with the woof of days. – Songs Ysame by Annie Fellows Johnston Albion Fellows Bacon

After 1625 there was never a Parliament but had its committee to discuss religion, and to stray into the devious places of divinity. – Oxford by Lang, Andrew

So working to the point by devious ways She said at last: " You must give me the key, The sealed instruction: I'll go to the box, And get the letters, do with them as Elenor Directed in the letter; for I think, Cannot believe it different, that my niece Has left these letters with me, so directs In that sealed letter." – Domesday Book by Edgar Lee Masters

Or again, devious routes were resorted to. – The Life of Napoleon I (Volumes, 1 and 2) by John Holland Rose

I had forced her, by devious ways, to pretend that she was in love with him- keeping that perjury thing hanging over her all the time and constantly harping on how, even though he was a nice young fellow, he was robbing us both of something that was rightfully ours. – The White Desert by Courtney Ryley Cooper

It is true that as the smoke- wreaths ring themselves above his head, his mind may wander off into devious paths of reverie, and the problem be utterly forgotten. – The Social History of Smoking by G. L. Apperson

At the foot of the hill, around the pier and harbour to the north and east, clustered St. Hugh's town, and climbed by one devious street to the garrison gate. – Major Vigoureux by A. T. Quiller-Couch

They followed a devious winding road- in and out- with much care, the father holding Wilfred's hand all the time, until they emerged and found themselves ascending between two steep banks. – The Rival Heirs being the Third and Last Chronicle of Aescendune by A. D. Crake

And around these symbols, multiplied to such a degree over the things that they were to represent that they finished by no longer having any value, Business came forth, a giant, arising, from all sides, on the shoulders of those most wretched in their poverty, and through all the devious ways of politics; it was especially shameless in its way of taking part in war and its glorious successes. – Essays on the Materialistic Conception of History by Antonio Labriola

He would turn the carriage round and drive by devious ways to the house of Golitzine. – The Intriguers by William Le Queux

Did Paredes, in fact, have some devious purpose in remaining at the Cedars? – The Abandoned Room by Wadsworth Camp

We found the attendant waiting, and by a devious route along many passages and through many doors we reached our destination at last. – The Master Mummer by E. Phillips Oppenheim

At last it strikes you that they grew up, house by house, on the devious tracks of the old green lanes; and if you follow on to the existing fields, you may often find the change half complete. – The English Constitution by Walter Bagehot