Word Meanings - SLY - Book Publishers vocabulary database

LG. slou, G. schlau; probably to E. slay, v.t.; cf. G. verschlagen 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

Additional info about word: SLY

LG. slou, G. schlau; probably to E. slay, v.t.; cf. G. verschlagen 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 . 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. By the sly, or On the sly, in a sly or secret manner. "Gazed on Hetty's charms by the sly." G. Eliot. -- Sly goose , the common sheldrake; -- so named from its craftiness. Syn. -- Cunning; crafty; subtile; wily. See Cunning.

Possible synonyms: (Same meaning words of SLY)

• Artful
• Cunning
• designing
• maneuvering
• sharp
• knowing
• subtle
• sly
• crafty
• wily
• shrewd
• Furtive
• Stealthy
• clandestine
• secretive
• secret
• Subtle
• Sly
• artful
• cunning
• insinuating
• astute
• nice
• discriminating
• fine
• sophistical
• Jesuitical

Related words: (words related to SLY)

• KNOWINGLY
  1. With knowledge; in a knowing manner; intelligently; consciously; deliberately; as, he would not knowingly offend. Strype. 2. By experience. Shak.
• DESIGN
  drawing, dessein a plan or scheme; all, ultimately, from L. designare to designate; de- + signare to mark, mark out, signum mark, sign. See 1. To draw preliminary outline or main features of; to sketch for a pattern or model; to delineate; to trace
• CRAFTY
  1. Relating to, or characterized by, craft or skill; dexterous. "Crafty work." Piers Plowman. 2. Possessing dexterity; skilled; skillful. A noble crafty man of trees. Wyclif. 3. Skillful at deceiving others; characterized by craft; cunning; wily.
• SHARPLY
  In a sharp manner,; keenly; acutely. They are more sharply to be chastised and reformed than the rude Irish. Spenser. The soldiers were sharply assailed with wants. Hayward. You contract your eye when you would see sharply. Bacon.
• SHARPER
  A person who bargains closely, especially, one who cheats in bargains; a swinder; also, a cheating gamester. Sharpers, as pikes, prey upon their own kind. L'Estrange. Syn. -- Swindler; cheat; deceiver; trickster; rogue. See Swindler.
• MANEUVER; MANOEUVRE
  1. To perform a movement or movements in military or naval tactics; to make changes in position with reference to getting advantage in attack or defense. 2. To manage with address or art; to scheme.
• SECRETE
  To separate from the blood and elaborate by the process of secretion; to elaborate and emit as a secretion. See Secretion. Why one set of cells should secrete bile, another urea, and so on, we do not known. Carpenter. Syn. -- To conceal; hide. See
• ASTUTE
  Critically discerning; sagacious; shrewd; subtle; crafty. Syn. -- Keen; eagle-eyed; penetrating; skilled; discriminating; cunning; sagacious; subtle; wily; crafty. As*tute"ly, adv. -- As*tute"ness, n.
• KNOWINGNESS
  The state or quality of being knowing or intelligent; shrewdness; skillfulness.
• KNOW-NOTHING
  A member of a secret political organization in the United States, the chief objects of which were the proscription of foreigners by the repeal of the naturalization laws, and the exclusive choice of native Americans for office. Note: The
• CUNNINGNESS
  Quality of being cunning; craft.
• SUBTLE
  subtil, OF. soutil, later subtil, F. subtil, L. subtilis; probably, originally, woven fine, and fr. sub under + tela a web, fr. texere to 1. Sly in design; artful; cunning; insinuating; subtile; -- applied to persons; as, a subtle foe. "A subtle
• DESIGNATE
  Designated; appointed; chosen. Sir G. Buck.
• FURTIVE
  Stolen; obtained or characterized by stealth; sly; secret; stealthy; as, a furtive look. Prior. A hasty and furtive ceremony. Hallam.
• SECRETARY
  secretari, Sp. & Pg. secretario, It. secretario, segretario) LL. secretarius, originally, a confidant, one intrusted with secrets, 1. One who keeps, or is intrusted with, secrets. 2. A person employed to write orders, letters, dispatches, public
• DISCRIMINATENESS
  The state of being discriminated; distinctness.
• KNOWING
  1. Skilful; well informed; intelligent; as, a knowing man; a knowing dog. The knowing and intelligent part of the world. South. 2. Artful; cunning; as, a knowing rascal.
• SHARPIE
  A long, sharp, flat-bottomed boat, with one or two masts carrying a triangular sail. They are often called Fair Haven sharpies, after the place on the coast of Connecticut where they originated.
• KNOW
  1. To have knowledge; to have a clear and certain perception; to possess wisdom, instruction, or information; -- often with of. Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. Is. i. 3. If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine,
• SECRET
  segreto), fr. L. secretus, p.p. of secrernere to put apart, to 1. Hidden; concealed; as, secret treasure; secret plans; a secret vow. Shak. The secret things belong unto the Lord our God; but those things which are revealed belong unto us. Deut.
• UNDERSECRETARY
  A secretary who is subordinate to the chief secretary; an assistant secretary; as, an undersecretary of the Treasury.
• PREKNOWLEDGE
  Prior knowledge.
• FOREKNOWER
  One who foreknows.
• FOREDESIGN
  To plan beforehand; to intend previously. Cheyne.
• ACKNOWLEDGE
  1. To of or admit the knowledge of; to recognize as a fact or truth; to declare one's belief in; as, to acknowledge the being of a God. I acknowledge my transgressions. Ps. li. 3. For ends generally acknowledged to be good. Macaulay. 2. To own
• BEKNOW
  To confess; to acknowledge. Chaucer.