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- Dictionarysly/slʌɪ/
adjective
- 1. having or showing a cunning and deceitful nature: "a sly, manipulative woman" Similar Opposite
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SLY definition: 1. deceiving people in a clever way in order to get what you want: 2. seeming to know secrets: 3…. Learn more.
The meaning of SLY is wise in practical affairs. How to use sly in a sentence. Synonym Discussion of Sly.
SLY meaning: 1. deceiving people in a clever way in order to get what you want: 2. seeming to know secrets: 3…. Learn more.
adjective. comparative: slyer or slier [slahy, -er],superlative: slyest or sliest [slahy, -ist]. cunning or wily: sly as a fox. Synonyms: astute, shrewd, crafty, foxy, subtle, artful. Antonyms: obvious, direct. stealthy, insidious, or secret. Synonyms: clandestine, underhand, furtive, surreptitious. playfully artful, mischievous, or roguish:
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. He gave me a sly, meaningful look.
Being sly is being deceitful, though not in the worst way. If you're good at lying, you're quite sly: people who are sly are good at pulling one over on other people. Being sly helps you get away with things. If you made a mess in your house but got your parents to blame the dog, that was sly.
1. Clever or cunning, especially in the practice of deceit. 2. Stealthy or surreptitious: took a sly look at the letter on the table. 3. Playfully mischievous: a sly laugh. Idiom: on the sly. In a way intended to escape notice: took extra payments on the sly. [Middle English sleigh, from Old Norse slœgr.] sly′ly adv. sly′ness n.