insinuation

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. The act, process, or practice of insinuating.
2. n. Something insinuated, especially an artfully indirect, often derogatory suggestion.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. The act of insinuating; a creeping or winding in; a tortuous or stealthy passage, as into crevices, or (figuratively) into favor or affection.
2. n. The art or power of pleasing and stealing into the affections.
3. n. That which is insinuated; a suggestion or intimation by indirect allusion; an oblique hint; an innuendo.
4. n. In civil law, the lodging of an alleged will with the officer charged with the duty of registering wills, as a step toward procuring its probate, and establishing it as a part of the records.
5. n. In rhetoric, a kind of exordium, in which the favor of the judge or hearers is sought to be gained indirectly or by special considerations, in spite of a discreditable client, an unfavorable case, prejudice or weariness on the part of the judge, etc.: distinguished from the exordium or proem in the narrower sense, in which a favorable hearing is claimed or solicited directly and openly.
6. n. Synonyms Intimation, Suggestion, etc. See hint, transitive verb

Wiktionary

1. n. The act or process of insinuating; a creeping, winding, or flowing in.
2. n. The act of gaining favor, affection, or influence, by gentle or artful means; — formerly used in a good sense, as of friendly influence or interposition.
3. n. The art or power of gaining good will by a prepossessing manner.
4. n. That which is insinuated; a hint; a suggestion or intimation by distant allusion

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. The act or process of insinuating; a creeping, winding, or flowing in.
2. n. The act of gaining favor, affection, or influence, by gentle or artful means; -- formerly used in a good sense, as of friendly influence or interposition.
3. n. The art or power of gaining good will by a prepossessing manner.
4. n. That which is insinuated; a hint; a suggestion or intimation by distant allusion.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. an indirect (and usually malicious) implication
2. n. the act of gaining acceptance or affection for yourself by persuasive and subtle blandishments