Thesaurus: sly

Related headwords

Definitions

1. v. t. Dexterous in performing an action, so as to escape notice; nimble; skillful; cautious; shrewd; knowing; -- in a good sense.
2. v. t. Artfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily.
3. v. t. Done with, and marked by, artful and dexterous secrecy; subtle; as, a sly trick.
4. v. t. Light or delicate; slight; thin.
5. adv. Slyly.
6. adj. marked by skill in deception
7. 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 (Zoöl.), the common sheldrake; -- so named from its craftiness. Syn. -- Cunning; crafty; subtile; wily. See Cunning. Slyly. [Obs. or Poetic] Spenser.
8. Slyly. [Obs. or Poetic] Spenser.
9. j:100 s marked by skill in deception