sly
sly (slī)
adjective sli′er or sly′er, sli′·est or sly′·est
- Dialectal skillful or clever
- skillful at trickery or deceit; crafty; wily
- showing a secretive, crafty, or wily nature; cunningly underhanded
- mischievous in a playful way; roguish
Etymology: ME sley < ON slœgr, clever, cunning, lit., able to strike < base of slā & OE slean, to strike: see slay
on the sly
secretly; stealthily
sly
modif.
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. Shrewd
clever, sharp, astute; see intelligent 1.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
Modifies a noun
- wink: But sly winks are all they are- they never overwhelm the film and are never played with anything other than a straight face.
- grin: It was a lot of fun, " says Phillips, a sly grin creeping onto his face.
- nod: It even pays a sly nod to Sheffeild with the growling electro throb which flows above the outro.
- dig: Making a sly dig at Paris ' home video past, Lindsay added: " Obviously, she's very comfortable making videos.
- glance: Next, the pedals take full charge, with sly glances in the direction of Bach.
- smile: She caught his eye, giving him a sly smile.
Modifying Another Word
- very: Silly Kids Games has some very sly Who references.
- so: The questioner who sits so sly Shall never know how to reply.
- rather: Watch our for Pixie, rather sly ninja invisible stylee.
- also: She is also sly and sneaky with a knack for slipping in and out of places unnoticed.
- too: He was making a big thing about being friendly to all of us children in too sly and overt a fashion.
- even: Elizabeth Bennett is feisty, intelligent, sharp, even sly, mysterious, and a nineteenth century version of sarcastic.
Browse dictionary entries near sly
- slut
- slush pile
- slush fund
- slush
- slurry
- slurp
- slurb
- slur
- slunk
- slung shot
- slyboots
- slyly
- Sm
- smack
- smack down
- smack of
- smacker
- smacking
- small
- small and medium enterprise
