insinuer
French
Etymology
Inherited from Middle French insinuer, from Old French insinuer, a learned borrowing from Latin īnsinuō, from in- or sinuō (“to bend, curve”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɛ̃.si.nɥe/
Audio: (file) Audio (Switzerland (Valais)): (file) Audio (France (Vosges)): (file) Audio (France (Vosges)): (file) Audio (France (Somain)): (file)
Verb
insinuer
- insinuate (make way for by subtle means)
- 1956, Sylvio Sereno, Latitude 9°-S, Éditions du Faucon Noir, page 41:
- Lorsque je fis fonctionner de nouveau mon cerveau, elle s'était glissée tout contre moi, insinuant une de ses jambes sous les miennes, et je n'eus qu'un léger mouvement sur le flanc à faire pour m'abîmer à la fournaise délicieusement étroite de son intimité.
- When I got my brain to work again, she had glided tightly against me, insinuating one of her legs under mine, and I only had to make a light movement on the side to be absorbed into the deliciously narrow furnace of her intimacy.
- insinuate; hint
- Synonym: laisser entendre
Conjugation
Conjugation of insinuer (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| infinitive | simple | insinuer | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle or gerund1 | simple | insinuant /ɛ̃.si.nɥɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | insinué /ɛ̃.si.nɥe/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) |
present | insinue /ɛ̃.si.ny/ |
insinues /ɛ̃.si.ny/ |
insinue /ɛ̃.si.ny/ |
insinuons /ɛ̃.si.nɥɔ̃/ |
insinuez /ɛ̃.si.nɥe/ |
insinuent /ɛ̃.si.ny/ |
| imperfect | insinuais /ɛ̃.si.nɥɛ/ |
insinuais /ɛ̃.si.nɥɛ/ |
insinuait /ɛ̃.si.nɥɛ/ |
insinuions /ɛ̃.si.ny.jɔ̃/ |
insinuiez /ɛ̃.si.ny.je/ |
insinuaient /ɛ̃.si.nɥɛ/ | |
| past historic2 | insinuai /ɛ̃.si.nɥe/ |
insinuas /ɛ̃.si.nɥa/ |
insinua /ɛ̃.si.nɥa/ |
insinuâmes /ɛ̃.si.nɥam/ |
insinuâtes /ɛ̃.si.nɥat/ |
insinuèrent /ɛ̃.si.nɥɛʁ/ | |
| future | insinuerai /ɛ̃.si.ny.ʁe/ |
insinueras /ɛ̃.si.ny.ʁa/ |
insinuera /ɛ̃.si.ny.ʁa/ |
insinuerons /ɛ̃.si.ny.ʁɔ̃/ |
insinuerez /ɛ̃.si.ny.ʁe/ |
insinueront /ɛ̃.si.ny.ʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | insinuerais /ɛ̃.si.ny.ʁɛ/ |
insinuerais /ɛ̃.si.ny.ʁɛ/ |
insinuerait /ɛ̃.si.ny.ʁɛ/ |
insinuerions /ɛ̃.si.ny.ʁjɔ̃/ |
insinueriez /ɛ̃.si.ny.ʁje/ |
insinueraient /ɛ̃.si.ny.ʁɛ/ | |
| (compound tenses) |
present perfect | present indicative of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| past anterior2 | past historic of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| future perfect | future of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| conditional perfect | conditional of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| subjunctive | que je (j’) | que tu | qu’il, qu’elle | que nous | que vous | qu’ils, qu’elles | |
| (simple tenses) |
present | insinue /ɛ̃.si.ny/ |
insinues /ɛ̃.si.ny/ |
insinue /ɛ̃.si.ny/ |
insinuions /ɛ̃.si.ny.jɔ̃/ |
insinuiez /ɛ̃.si.ny.je/ |
insinuent /ɛ̃.si.ny/ |
| imperfect2 | insinuasse /ɛ̃.si.nɥas/ |
insinuasses /ɛ̃.si.nɥas/ |
insinuât /ɛ̃.si.nɥa/ |
insinuassions /ɛ̃.si.nɥa.sjɔ̃/ |
insinuassiez /ɛ̃.si.nɥa.sje/ |
insinuassent /ɛ̃.si.nɥas/ | |
| (compound tenses) |
past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | insinue /ɛ̃.si.ny/ |
— | insinuons /ɛ̃.si.nɥɔ̃/ |
insinuez /ɛ̃.si.nɥe/ |
— | |
| compound | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | |
| 1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en. | |||||||
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way:
(Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81). | |||||||
Related terms
Descendants
- → Romanian: insinua (learned)
Further reading
- “insinuer”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012
Latin
Verb
īnsinuer
- first-person singular present passive subjunctive of īnsinuō
Norwegian Bokmål
Verb
insinuer
- imperative of insinuere