Sly Definition

slī
slier, sliest, slyer, slyest
adjective
slier, slyer, slyest, sliest
Skillful or clever.
Webster's New World
Skillful at trickery or deceit; crafty; wily.
Webster's New World
Stealthy or surreptitious.
Took a sly look at the letter on the table.
American Heritage
Showing a secretive, crafty, or wily nature; cunningly underhanded.
Webster's New World
Mischievous in a playful way; roguish.
Webster's New World
adverb
Wiktionary
idiom
on the sly
  • In a way intended to escape notice:

    took extra payments on the sly.

American Heritage
on the sly
  • secretly; stealthily
Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Sly

Adjective

Base Form:
sly
Comparative:
slier
Superlative:
sliest

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Sly

Origin of Sly

  • From Middle English sly, sley, from Old Norse slÇ£gr, slÅ“gr (“sly, cunning", literally “capable of hitting or striking"), from Proto-Germanic *slōgiz (“lively, agile, cunning, sly, striking"), from Proto-Indo-European *slak- (“to hit, throw"). Cognate with Icelandic slægur (“crafty, sly"), Norwegian Nynorsk sløg (“sly"), German schlau (“clever, crafty"). Related to sleight, slay.

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English sleigh from Old Norse slœgr

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

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