Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Full of wiles; cunning.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Full of wiles; subtle; cunning; crafty; sly.
  • Synonyms Cunning, Artful, Sly, etc. (see cunning), designing, deceitful, foxy, diplomatic, delusive, insidious.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Full of wiles, tricks, or stratagems; using craft or stratagem to accomplish a purpose; mischievously artful; subtle.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective sly, cunning, full of tricks

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective marked by skill in deception

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From wile ("ruse, trick") + -y

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Examples

  • The president is known as a wily politician with a long history of outsmarting political opponents.

    Yemen Protesters Accept Deal Hakim Almasmari 2011

  • On the field, Sócrates was known as a wily strategist who could elegantly employ his signature move, a back-heel pass.

    NYT > Home Page By SIMON ROMERO 2011

  • On the field, Sócrates was known as a wily strategist who could elegantly employ his signature move, a back-heel pass.

    NYT > Home Page By SIMON ROMERO 2011

  • On the field, Sócrates was known as a wily strategist who could elegantly employ his signature move, a back-heel pass.

    NYT > Home Page By SIMON ROMERO 2011

  • Perhaps it was his looks - it seemed impossible for any profile of him not to describe him as "wily" - but he projected a sense of profound wisdom, and he was a skilled enough magic man to coax six goals out of Milan Baros in Euro 2004.

    Blogposts | guardian.co.uk 2009

  • I think he is the most stunning example of this because it's one thing to look at Jesse Helms being called a wily pandering bigot while Teddy Kennedy is described as a man of principal.

    Slander: Liberal Lies About the American Right 2002

  • Mr. Musharraf is known as a wily fox here in India, and his speech shows exactly why that is.

    CNN Transcript Jan 12, 2002 2002

  • Mark, aristocratic-looking belying a poverty-stricken upbringing and handsome, but known as wily and aloof in his circle, played an expert cat-and-mouse game, not only with Judy—his girlfriend and my patient—but also with his wife.

    Living with the Passive—Aggressive Man Ph.D. Scott Wetzler 1992

  • Mark, aristocratic-looking belying a poverty-stricken upbringing and handsome, but known as wily and aloof in his circle, played an expert cat-and-mouse game, not only with Judy—his girlfriend and my patient—but also with his wife.

    Living with the Passive—Aggressive Man Ph.D. Scott Wetzler 1992

  • It was one-way traffic as Judah, known as a wily and tricky operator, continued to be outboxed and he was now bleeding from the nose.

    Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph 2011

Comments

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  • clever; deceptive

    August 1, 2009