adjective
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skilled in deception; shrewd; cunning
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archaic skilful
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of crafty
before 900; Middle English; Old English cræftig skilled. See craft, -y 1
Explanation
If people call you crafty, they probably mean you are sly and a little deceptive. Then again, they could be saying that you are really good at knitting, beading, and turning old t-shirts into funky pillowcases. The adjective crafty comes from the Old English word cræftig, which meant “strong” or “powerful,” but the meaning of crafty these days has to do with being skilled at getting what you want through manipulation or trickery. Dickens’ Artful Dodger, the con-man from Oliver Twist, is crafty. Handmade items, and sometimes the people who make them, can also be called crafty, like your crafty sister who always makes you unique birthday gifts.
Vocabulary lists containing crafty
Charlotte's Web
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This Week in Words: January 6 - 12, 2018
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Bright Ideas: Synonyms For "Smart"
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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.
Mr. Pappalardo has a novelist’s gifts for description and pacing, and his material—greedy entrepreneurs, crafty moonshiners, crooked politicos and jaded cops—is material any writer would welcome.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 24, 2026
Arsenal's 11 international withdrawals - injury crisis or crafty caution?
From BBC • Apr. 3, 2026
Some crafty artifice and a heap of negative space aren’t enough to fill the void left by a complete lack of narrative sense.
From Salon • Mar. 15, 2026
This is the perfect time to give it to a crafty friend or neighbor.
From MarketWatch • Feb. 23, 2026
You remember that old one, laughed at by the children in the town's square, old, comic-faced, crafty, cotton-headed.
From "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison
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.
