Hi! Could anybody explain to me the difference in meaning between these adjectives? ???
Thank you in advance

(Just to get some glory, after Katy has done all of the research…LOL)

Although we sometimes grudgingly admire those who are cunning, crafty, sly or wily; artful is the only quality (from this list) that is truly a positive attribute.

Perry

Except in the case of Oliver Twist… whose associate, the Artful Dodger, was a pickpocket!

-Tim

My reflections on these words:

Cunning - shows long-term planning; describes someone who may be ruthless in their efforts to achieve a goal

Crafty - ingenious with resources and quick to react

Sly - sneaky (~40%) and smart (~60%)

Artful - ingeniously skillful at completing a task

Wily - sneaky (~60%) and smart (~40%)

-Tim

Thank you very much for your help and I hope I can rely on you in the future ?  ???
Best wishes - Kasia

[quote author=Tim Ward link=board=what;num=1083084218;start=0#4 date=04/27/04 at 14:53:32]My reflections on these words:

Cunning - shows long-term planning; describes someone who may be ruthless in their efforts to achieve a goal

Crafty - ingenious with resources and quick to react

Sly - sneaky (~40%) and smart (~60%)

Artful - ingeniously skillful at completing a task

Wily - sneaky (~60%) and smart (~40%)

-Tim

Tim are your proportions for sly and wily influenced by the relative dearth of smarts on the part of Wily Coyote?

Perry

I do admit that the characterization did enter my mind…

But no, there’s something about sly that just seems ... deviously smart.  Perhaps my emphasis on ‘sneaky’ for wily was influenced by the mellifluous sound of the word, so it just seems sneakier.

-Tim

I’m not sure I agree. To me wily sounds less negative than crafty or sly, more on a level with cunning but perhaps not as clever. I don’t know why I have this impression, it’s just a feeling. My guess is that all these words, except artful, could be used interchangeably without significantly altering the meaning. Any differences are very subtle.

This thread is a perfect example for the difference between denotation and connotation.  Kasia’s question is brilliant.

Katy’s post shows how, by merely learning English from a dictionary, these words mean so nearly the same thing that to use them interchangeably would seem appropriate. These are their denotations.

Tim’s post and Jonah’s follow-up show that to fluent speakers of English these words are decidedly different in connotation.

Excellent Kasia!  Although I am an infrequent responder here, I hope you continue to participate!