sly

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Related to slyer: slayer

sly

(slī)

adj. sli·er (slī′ər), sli·est (slī′ĕst) also sly·er or sly·est

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.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

sly

(slaɪ)

adj, slyer, slyest, slier or sliest

1. crafty; artful: a sly dodge.

2. insidious; furtive: a sly manner.

3. playfully mischievous; roguish: sly humour.

on the sly in a secretive manner

[C12: from Old Norse slǣgr clever, literally: able to strike, from slā to slay]

ˈslyly, ˈslily adv

ˈslyness n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

sly

(slaɪ)

adj. sly•er sli•er, sly•est sli•est, adj.

1. cunning or wily.

2. stealthy; surreptitious.

3. mischievous or roguish: sly humor.

4. on the sly, secretly; furtively.

Idiom.

[1175–1225; Middle English sly, sley < Old Norse slŒgr sly, cunning]

sly′ly, adv.

sly′ness, n.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Adj.

sly - marked by skill in deception; "cunning men often pass for wise"; "deep political machinations"; "a foxy scheme"; "a slick evasive answer"; "sly as a fox"; "tricky Dick"; "a wily old attorney"

foxy, guileful, knavish, crafty, tricksy, wily, cunning, dodgy, tricky, slick

artful - marked by skill in achieving a desired end especially with cunning or craft; "the artful dodger"; "an artful choice of metaphors"

sly

adjective

1. roguish, knowing, arch, teasing, naughty, mischievous, wicked, impish His lips were spread in a sly smile.

2. cunning, scheming, devious, secret, clever, subtle, tricky, covert, astute, wily, insidious, crafty, artful, furtive, conniving, Machiavellian, shifty, foxy, underhand, stealthy, guileful She is devious, sly and manipulative.
cunning open, direct, frank, straightforward, honest, trustworthy, above-board, artless, ingenuous, guileless

3. secret, furtive, surreptitious, stealthy, sneaking, covert, clandestine They were giving each other sly looks across the room.

on the sly secretly, privately, covertly, surreptitiously, under the counter (informal), on the quiet, behind (someone's) back, like a thief in the night, underhandedly, on the q.t. (informal) Was she meeting some guy on the sly?

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

sly

adjective

1. Deceitfully clever:

artful, crafty, cunning, foxy, guileful, scheming, sharp, tricky, wily.

2. Trickily secret:

furtive, secretive, sneaking, sneaky, surreptitious.

Translations

خَبيثكَتُوم ماكِر

mazanýprohnanýzáludnýzlomyslný

snedigsnuunderfundig

schlau verschmitzt ausgekocht durchtrieben listig

πονηρός

bellaco malicioso taimado

viekas

rusé sournois artificieux astucieux finaud

prepreden

glettinnkænn, slóttugur

furbo scaltro astuto di nascosto

ずるい

교활한

draiskulīgsnodevīgsviltīgs

nagajivzvit

slug

ซึ่งมีเล่ห์เหลี่ยม อย่างฉลาดแกมโกง

hilebazkurnaz muzipşakacıtilki gibi

ranh mãnh

狡猾的顽皮的淘气的

sly

[slaɪ]

A. ADJ (slyer (compar) (slyest (superl)))

1. (= wily) [person] → astuto, taimado
he's a sly one! → ¡es un zorro!

2. (= mischievous) [person] → pícaro, travieso; [look, smile] → pícaro, malicioso

B. N on the sly → a hurtadillas, a escondidas

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

sly

[ˈslaɪ]

adj [person] → rusé(e); [remark, look] → narquois(e)
a sly smile → un sourire sournois

n
on the sly → en cachette

sly

adj (+er)

(= cunning) → schlau, gerissen; person, look also → verschlagen

(= mischievous) look, wink → verschmitzt; humour → versteckt

n on the sly → heimlich, still und leise (hum), → ganz heimlich

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

sly

[slaɪ]

1. adj (-ier (comp) (-iest (superl))) (wily) → astuto/a, scaltro/a; (secretive) → furtivo/a; (mischievous, trick) → birbone/a; (smile) → sornione/a, malizioso/a

2. n on the sly → di nascosto, di soppiatto

sly

(slai) adjective

1. cunning or deceitful. He sometimes behaves in rather a sly manner.

2. playfully mischievous. He made a sly reference to my foolish mistake.

ˈslyly, ˈslily adverb

ˈslyness noun

sly

→ كَتُوم mazaný snedig listig πονηρός malicioso, taimado viekas rusé prepreden scaltro ずるい 교활한 sluw slu przebiegły dissimulado хитрый slug ซึ่งมีเล่ห์เหลี่ยม อย่างฉลาดแกมโกง kurnaz ranh mãnh 狡猾的

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References in classic literature ?

And gin he be sly, am not I slyer? Now by the bright eyes of Nan o' the Mill, and by mine own name and that's Wat o' the Crabstaff, and by mine own mother's son, and that's myself, will I, even I, Wat o' the Crabstaff, meet this same sturdy rogue, and gin he mind not the seal of our glorious sovereign King Harry, and the warrant of the good Sheriff of Nottinghamshire, I will so bruise, beat, and bemaul his pate that he shall never move finger or toe again!

Fain am I to own thou art both a stouter and a slyer man than I; so I will obey thee and be thine own true servant."

View in context

When exceptional circumstances compel me to take an opposite course, there isn't a slyer fox alive than I am.

View in context

Its act of defiance was slyer, its critique stitched into a portrait of childhood that, initially, seems non-threatening.

Spectres of Childhood: MAGIC AND MEMORY IN THE SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE: One of the most remarkable films to emerge from Spain in the 1970s, Victor Erice's debut feature is a beautiful, eerie tale of life after the Spanish Civil War, channelled through the experiences and imagination of a young girl. As ANTHONY CAREW argues, it functions as both uneasy reverie and potent political metaphor

Patient education may lead to enhanced knowledge, quality of life, and self-care; reduced hospital readmissions; and improved medication adherence (Casmir, Williams, Liang, Pitakmongkolkul, & Slyer, 2014; Sandlin, Bennett, Ockerby, & Corradini, 2013; van Driel et al., 2016).

Effective Patient Education: Evidence and Common Sense

The 'tache is now trimmed, the hair lanky and straggly, the young man older and slyer. He tells the unseen woman of some long-ago liaison: "I fell in love with this girl in New Zealand.

Collecting stories inspires local writer, traveller

Paired with Trump's open conspiracy-mongering about Obama's forged birth certificate and supposed Muslim faith, it amplified and dramatized the Republican establishment's slyer assertions about Obama's un-American values.