sly
Americanadjective
idioms
adjective
-
crafty; artful
a sly dodge
-
insidious; furtive
a sly manner
-
playfully mischievous; roguish
sly humour
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of sly
First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English sly, sley , from Old Norse slœgr “sly, cunning” (originally “able to strike, able to slay”); see slay ( def. )
Explanation
When you're sly, you're crafty, cunning, tricky, and wily. 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. Being sly means you're not being honest, but this word has kind of a harmless flavor to it. Someone who killed someone and lied about it would not be described as sly. Slyness has to do with smaller, sneakier, more harmless kinds of lying.
Vocabulary lists containing sly
"The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
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Scrabble: Words with no Vowels
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Then there was Sly Stone’s oft-delayed set that ended with him ranting about his former manager and led to a slander lawsuit.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 6, 2026
Reggae legend Sly Dunbar, who played with everyone from Bob Marley to The Rolling Stones, has died at the age of 73.
From BBC • Jan. 26, 2026
Locally, Sly & Robbie founded an influential label, Taxi Records, in 1980 and performed in the house band at Jamaica’s formidable Channel One studio.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 26, 2026
Appeared in the December 30, 2025, print edition as 'The Professor’s Sly ‘Land Acknowledgment’'.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 29, 2025
I had been parked on the street for about fifteen minutes listening to Sly.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
