insinuation

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun The act, process, or practice of insinuating.
• noun Something insinuated, especially an artfully indirect, often derogatory suggestion.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun The act of insinuating; a creeping or winding in; a tortuous or stealthy passage, as into crevices, or (figuratively) into favor or affection.
• noun The art or power of pleasing and stealing into the affections.
• noun That which is insinuated; a suggestion or intimation by indirect allusion; an oblique hint; an innuendo.
• noun 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.
• noun 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.
• noun Synonyms Intimation, Suggestion, etc. See hint, transitive verb

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

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

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

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

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun an indirect (and usually malicious) implication
• noun the act of gaining acceptance or affection for yourself by persuasive and subtle blandishments