innuendo
in-yoo-EN-dohnounMeaning a sly, indirect hint, usually an unkind one about someone
Memory hook a NOD and a WINK, not a word. At the bake sale, Greta winks and murmurs, “Some people’s homemade pies come from a box, I hear...” That sly, unkind hint is innuendo.
The gossip column was full of innuendo but had not a single fact.
In context The rival bakery never accused Nell outright; it spread innuendo instead, wondering aloud why her kitchen was always closed on Mondays.
Similar insinuation, hint, implication, suggestion
From Latin innuendo, “by nodding at,” from innuere (to nod to, to hint).