sly

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Done with, and marked by, artful and dexterous secrecy; subtle

   A sly trick.

2. 2
   adj

   marked by skill in deception

3. 3
   adj

   Artfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily.

4. 4
   adj

   Dexterous in performing an action, so as to escape notice

From Middle English sly, sley, sleigh, sleiȝ, from Old Norse slǿgr (“sly, cunning”, literally “capable of hitting or striking”), from Proto-Germanic *slōgiz (“lively, agile, cunning, sly, striking”), from Proto-Indo-European *slak- (“to hit, throw”). Cognate with Icelandic slægur (“crafty, sly”), Norwegian Nynorsk sløg (“sly”). Related to sleight, slay. In all likelihood, however, unrelated with Saterland Frisian slau (“sly, crafty”), Dutch sluw (“sly, cunning”), Low German slu (“sly, cunning”), German schlau (“clever, crafty”). Doublet of sleight and slöjd

Topics