Ophidian

ophidian, adj. : “Describes snakes or something snakelike; dishonest or mean-spirited” (Roget’s Thesaurus of Words for Intellectuals) (pronounced o-FID-ee-un).

This word is unbelievably perfect if you ever find yourself needing to describe a villain in a story (or maybe not the villain…but someone else entirely!). It sounds refined and impressive, yet simultaneously insulting and indicative of evil. It could describe a young, dashing, once-believed-to-be-trustworthy gentleman, or highlight the inner scheming brain of a chubby three-year-old. You could go anywhere with a word like this.

And with that one word, that almost indistinguishable mumble of a “yes”, the beautiful wall of Mr. Martindale’s polished, prosperous perfection crumbled away to reveal the true abode—corrupted, condemned criminality—yes, even ophidian conniving—that even his own mother couldn’t fathom.

The old woman’s ophidian eyes darted back and forth, silently slipping through the scene, savoring every detail and storing it in her memory—for what purpose she alone knew, and the others could only guess.