sly

sly

modif.

1. Crafty

   wily, tricky, foxy, shifty, insidious, artful, shrewd, designing, deceitful, guileful, scheming, deceiving, captious, intriguing, cunning, unscrupulous, deceptive, conniving, calculating, plotting, elusive, delusive, illusory, bluffing, dissembling, dishonest, mealy-mouthed, treacherous, underhanded, sneaking, double-dealing, faithless, traitorous, sharp, smart, ingenious, cagey, canny, dishonorable, crooked*, mean*, dirty*, ratty*, double-crossing*, slick*, smooth*, slippery*, shady*.

   Antonyms honest*, fair, just.

2. Shrewd

   clever, sharp, astute; see intelligent 1.

3. Secretive

   furtive, evasive, stealthy; see secret 3, secretive.

sly implies a working to achieve one's ends by evasiveness, insinuation, furtiveness, duplicity, etc. a sly bargain; cunning implies a cleverness or shrewd skillfulness at deception and circumvention a cunning plot; crafty implies an artful cunning in contriving stratagems and subtle deceptions a crafty diplomat; tricky suggests a shifty, unreliable quality rather than cleverness at deception tricky subterfuges; foxy suggests slyness and craftiness that have been sharpened by experience a foxy old trader; wily implies the deceiving or ensnarement of others by subtle stratagems and ruses wily blandishments