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definitions

guile

[ gahyl ]
/ gaɪl /
||
SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR guile ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

insidious cunning in attaining a goal; crafty or artful deception; duplicity.

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RELATED WORDS

trickery, chicanery, deception, duplicity, sellout, artfulness, ruse, treachery, deceit, craft, trickiness, artifice, craftiness, dishonesty, cunning, jive, dissimulation, wiliness, double-cross, dissemblance

Nearby words

  1. guildhall,
  2. guilds,
  3. guildship,
  4. guildsman,
  5. guildswoman,
  6. guileful,
  7. guilefully,
  8. guileless,
  9. guilelessly,
  10. guilford

Origin of guile

1175–1225; Middle English < Old French < Germanic; akin to wile

Synonym study

See duplicity.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for guile

British Dictionary definitions for guile

guile

/ (ɡaɪl) /

noun

clever or crafty character or behaviour
Derived Formsguileful, adjectiveguilefully, adverbguilefulness, noun

Word Origin for guile

C18: from Old French guile, of Germanic origin; see wile
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for guile

guile

n.

mid-12c., from Old French guile "deceit, wile, fraud, ruse, trickery," from Frankish *wigila "trick, ruse" or a related Germanic source (cf. Old Frisian wigila "sorcery, witchcraft," Old English wil "trick;" see wile).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper