Adjacent Words

Sly definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SLY, a.
1. Artfully dextrous in performing things secretly, and escaping observation or detection; usually implying some degree of meanness; artfully cunning; applied to persons; as a sly man or boy.
2. Done with artful and dextrous secrecy; as a sly trick.
3. Marked with artful secrecy; as sly circumspection.
4. Secret; concealed. Envy works in a sly imperceptible manner.
SLY'-BOOTS, n. A sly, cunning or waggish person.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: marked by skill in deception; "cunning men often pass for wise"; "deep political machinations"; "a foxy scheme"; "a slick evasive answer"; "sly as a fox"; "tricky Dick"; "a wily old attorney" [syn: crafty, cunning, dodgy, foxy, guileful, knavish, slick, sly, tricksy, tricky, wily]

Merriam Webster's

adjective (slier or slyer; sliest or slyest) Etymology: Middle English sleighe, sli, from Old Norse slœgr; akin to Old English sl?an to strike — more at slay Date: 13th century 1. chiefly dialect a. wise in practical affairs b. displaying cleverness ; ingenious 2. a. clever in concealing one's aims or ends ; furtive <the sly fox> b. lacking in straightforwardness and candor ; dissembling <a sly scheme> 3. lightly mischievous ; roguish <a sly jest> <a sly smile> • slyly also slily adverb • slyness noun Synonyms: sly, cunning, crafty, wily, tricky, foxy, artful, slick mean attaining or seeking to attain one's ends by guileful or devious means. sly implies furtiveness, lack of candor, and skill in concealing one's aims and methods <a sly corporate raider>. cunning suggests the inventive use of sometimes limited intelligence in overreaching or circumventing <the cunning fox avoided the trap>. crafty implies cleverness and subtlety of method <a crafty lefthander>. wily implies skill and deception in maneuvering <the wily fugitive escaped the posse>. tricky is more likely to suggest shiftiness and unreliability than skill in deception and maneuvering <a tricky political operative>. foxy implies a shrewd and wary craftiness usually involving devious dealing <a foxy publicity man planting stories>. artful implies indirectness in dealing and often connotes sophistication or cleverness <elicited the information by artful questioning>. slick emphasizes smoothness and guile <slick operators selling time-sharing>.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. (slyer, slyest) 1 cunning; crafty; wily. 2 a (of a person) practising secrecy or stealth. b (of an action etc.) done etc. in secret. 3 hypocritical; ironical. 4 knowing; arch; bantering; insinuating. 5 Austral. & NZ sl. (esp. of liquor) illicit. Phrases and idioms: on the sly privately; covertly; without publicity (smuggled some through on the sly). sly dog colloq. a person who is discreet about mistakes or pleasures. Derivatives: slyly adv. (also slily). slyness n. Etymology: ME sleh etc. f. ON sloegr cunning, orig. 'able to strike' f. slóg- past stem of slá strike: cf. SLEIGHT

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Sly Sly, adv. Slyly. [Obs. or Poetic] --Spenser.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Sly Sly, a. [Compar. Slieror Slyer; superl. Sliest or Slyest.] [OE. sli, slegh, sleih, Icel sl?gr, for sl?gr; akin to Sw. slug, Dan. slu, LG. slou, G. schlau; probably to E. slay, v.t.; cf. G. verschlagen sly. See Slay, v. t., and cf. Sleight.] 1. Dexterous in performing an action, so as to escape notice; nimble; skillful; cautious; shrewd; knowing; -- in a good sense. Be ye sly as serpents, and simple as doves. --Wyclif (Matt. x. 16). Whom graver age And long experience hath made wise and sly. --Fairfax. 2. Artfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily. For my sly wiles and subtle craftiness, The litle of the kingdom I possess. --Spenser. 3. Done with, and marked by, artful and dexterous secrecy; subtle; as, a sly trick. Envy works in a sly and imperceptible manner. --I. Watts. 4. Light or delicate; slight; thin. [Obs.] By the sly, or On the sly, in a sly or secret manner. [Colloq.] ``Gazed on Hetty's charms by the sly.'' --G. Eliot. Sly goose (Zo["o]l.), the common sheldrake; -- so named from its craftiness. Syn: Cunning; crafty; subtile; wily. See Cunning.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

1. A sly look, expression, or remark shows that you know something that other people do not know or that was meant to be a secret. His lips were spread in a sly smile... ADJ: usu ADJ n • slyly Anna grinned slyly. ADV 2. If you describe someone as sly, you disapprove of them because they keep their feelings or intentions hidden and are clever at deceiving people. She is devious and sly and manipulative... = cunning ADJ [disapproval]

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Cunning, artful, crafty, wily, subtle, insidious. 2. Wily, cautious, shrewd, nimble, skilful, knowing, fine, subtle, astute. 3. Arch, knowing. 4. Secret, underhand, clandestine, stealthy.

Moby Thesaurus

Byzantine, Machiavellian, Machiavellic, acute, adroit, arch, artful, astute, back-door, backstairs, cagey, calculating, canny, clandestine, clever, covert, crafty, creep, crooked, cunning, cute, deceitful, deep, deep-laid, designing, devious, dexterous, diplomatic, dishonest, disingenuous, downy, feline, foxy, furtive, guileful, gumshoe, hidlings, hole-and-corner, hugger-mugger, ingenious, insidious, inventive, knowing, lurk, masterful, pawky, politic, predatory, privy, quiet, ready, resourceful, scheming, serpentine, shady, sharp, shifty, shrewd, skulk, skulking, slick, slide, slim, slink, slinking, slinky, slippery, smart, smooth, snake, snaky, sneaking, sneaky, snook, sophistical, steal, stealthy, strategic, subtile, subtle, supple, surreptitious, tactical, trickish, tricksy, tricky, under-the-counter, under-the-table, undercover, underground, underhand, underhanded, unfrank, unobtrusive, unscrupulous, vulpine, wary, wily