insinuation

Meanings

1. The act or process of insinuating; a creeping, winding, or flowing in.
2. 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. The art or power of gaining good will by a prepossessing manner.
4. That which is insinuated; a hint; a suggestion, innuendo or intimation by distant allusion

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French insinuation, from Old French, from Latin insinuatio, from īnsinuō (“to push in, creep in, steal in”), from in (“in”) + sinus (“a winding, bend, bay, fold, bosom”).