sly

C2 Topic:Describing Qualities

Also spelled slily

US /slaɪ/ See IPA manual

Freq #8739

Meanings

1

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

A sly trick.
2

adj
marked by skill in deception
3

adj
Artfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily.
4

adj
Dexterous in performing an action, so as to escape notice

Thesaurus

Synonyms

2 adj · marked by skill in deception cunning

4 adj · dexterous in performing an... cautious nimble shrewd skillful

More artful crafty knowing sharp shifty slim wily

Word family

Forms slyishslylyslyness

Derived forms slinesssly-grogslybootsslyishslynessunsly

Simplified etymology

Sly comes from Old Norse slœgr, meaning “cunning.” In early English it could also mean dexterous or skilful; the phrase on the sly is recorded from the early 19th century.

Etymology

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

Describing Qualities

External links

# sly

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /slaɪ/
**Frequency rank:** 8739

## Meanings
1. Done with, and marked by, artful and dexterous secrecy; subtle
2. marked by skill in deception
3. Artfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily.
4. Dexterous in performing an action, so as to escape notice

## Examples
- A sly trick.

## Synonyms
- artful
- crafty
- cunning
- knowing
- sharp
- shifty
- shrewd
- slim
- wily

## Derived Forms
- sliness
- sly-grog
- slyboots
- slyish
- slyness
- unsly

## Etymology
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
- Describing Qualities

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sly