snake in the grass
UK/ˈsneɪk ɪn ðə ˈɡɹɑːs/US/ˈsneɪk ɪn ðə ˈɡɹæs/
snake in the grass noun: a hidden enemy.
Noun
snake in the grass (plural snakes in the grass)
- A hidden enemy.
- The trouble is, I trusted him too much from the start. He has proved to be a snake in the grass.1906, Horatio Alger, Jr., “The Iron Works Affair”, in Randy of the River: Or The Adventures of a Young Deckhand (Rise in Life Series), New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap, →OCLC, page 57
- Is he not here to throw us out—a thief, a spy, a snake in the grass?1914, William MacLeod Raine, “‘An Optimistic Guy’”, in A Daughter of the Dons: A Story of New Mexico To-day, New York, N.Y.: G. W. Dillingham Company, →OCLC, page 71
- Synonyms:
- backstabber, wolf in sheep's clothing, betrayer, cockatrice, double-crosser, quisling, rat, ratter, recreant, renegade
snake in the grass meaning in Tamil and Malayalam
snake in the grass in Tamil
- தீய நண்பன்
snake in the grass in Malayalam
- turncoat, traitor, betrayer
- പുല്ലിൽ കിടക്കുന്ന പാമ്പ്, രഹസ്യശത്രു, ചതിയൻ, പറുക്കൻ, ചതിവൻ, വ്യംശകൻ
Examples of snake in the grass in a sentence
- He's a snake in the grass, I tell you guys / He may look dumb but that's just a disguise / He's a mastermind in the ways of espionage.1973 June, Charlie Daniels, “Uneasy Rider”, performed by Charlie Daniels, New York, N.Y.: Kama Sutra Records, →OCLC:
- We were playing in Dallas, when that snake in the grass—Eight Ball, everyone called him—came up on my blind side …1978, John Irving, “The World According to Marcus Aurelius”, in The World According to Garp […] (A Henry Robbins Book), New York, N.Y....
- To some, that made Royal the symbol of the strong, modern woman in politics; to others, it cast her as the classic snake in the grass.2008 November 21, Bruce Crumley, “Which Woman will Lead France’s Socialists?”, in Time, New York, N.Y.: Time Warner Publishing, →ISSN...
Synonyms of snake in the grass
- backstabber
- wolf in sheep's clothing
- betrayer
- double-crosser
- quisling
- rat
- ratter
- recreant
- renegade
- serpent
9 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of snake in the grass
| plural | snakes in the grass |
|---|
Origin of snake in the grass
Calque of Latin latet anguis in herbā (literally “a snake hides in the grass”), from Eclogue III by the Roman poet Virgil (traditionally 70 – 19 B.C.E.). Compare Dutch addertje onder het gras.
Words that rhyme with snake in the grass
1 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about snake in the grass
- What does snake in the grass mean?
- Snake in the grass means a hidden enemy.
- What is snake in the grass in Tamil?
- Snake in the grass in Tamil is தீய நண்பன். See Snake in the grass meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use snake in the grass in a sentence?
- He's a snake in the grass, I tell you guys / He may look dumb but that's just a disguise / He's a mastermind in the ways of espionage.
- What part of speech is snake in the grass?
- Snake in the grass is a noun.
- How do you pronounce snake in the grass?
- Snake in the grass is pronounced /ˈsneɪk ɪn ðə ˈɡɹɑːs/ (UK).
- What is the plural of snake in the grass?
- The plural of snake in the grass is snakes in the grass.
Words near snake in the grass in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: snake in the grass (page history and authors); snake in the grass (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); snake in the grass (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-snake in the grass.ogg.
Cite this entry: “snake in the grass.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/snake_in_the_grass. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.