guile

[gahyl]

noun

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

   Synonyms: craft, fraud, trickery

guile

/ ɡaɪl /

noun

1. clever or crafty character or behaviour

Other Word Forms

• guilefully adverb
• guileful adjective
• guilefulness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of guile¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of guile¹

C18: from Old French guile, of Germanic origin; see _wile

Synonym Study

See duplicity.

Example Sentences

“She was hilarious, a complete original, and completely without guile, or any of the competitiveness one would have expected from such a star,” wrote actor Bette Midler on Instagram.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

A winning combination of discipline and guile from the spinners put Bangladesh in a great position as, for the third time in four World Cup matches, South Africa's top-order crumbled.

Read more on BBC

"She was hilarious, a complete original, and completely without guile, or any of the competitiveness one would have expected from such a star. What you saw was who she was ... oh, la, lala!"

Read more on BBC

He doesn’t overpower opponents the way he could in his prime, relying more on consistent command, pitch sequencing and veteran guile to post a 9-2 record and 3.06 ERA in 17 starts this year.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

A style built on keeping possession sometimes lacks punch and guile.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• trickery