guile
Americannoun
noun
Synonym Usage
See duplicity.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of guile
1175–1225; Middle English < Old French < Germanic; akin to wile
Explanation
Use the noun guile for cunning, craftiness, and artful duplicity. Acting like you have a job on Wall Street when you're actually unemployed would take a lot of guile. The noun guile has quite negative connotations, as it refers to the kind of knowledge and skill that can be used by comic book villains for evil and not good! People who have guile are also thought of as being wily (which is also a related word), sneaky, and deceitful. Those who are free of guile are pure and upstanding, and Henry David Thoreau affirms those feelings when he writes: "It is the work of a brave man surely, in whom there was no guile!"
Vocabulary lists containing guile
The Crucible
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"The Crucible" -- Vocabulary from all 4 Acts
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Grade 11, List 2
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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.
But the Cyclops is one-eyed, slow-moving and tactically naive, like the English national team, and is eventually defeated by firm managerial leadership and guile.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
He added: "Your lack of remorse was only matched by your guile in squeezing every last penny from one victim before moving on to the next."
From BBC ● Mar. 25, 2026
The hosts lacked the guile to unlock a stubborn defence once again in the second half - just a week after failing to find the back of the net against bottom of the table Wolves.
From BBC ● Jan. 25, 2026
Like Julien Duvivier and François Truffaut before him, Kiarostami captures their innocence and guile with righteous force.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 27, 2025
There was no hiding here, though, and because there was no guile in him, everything he felt showed on his face.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
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.
