guileful
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
- guilefully adverb
- guilefulness noun
- unguileful adjective
Etymology
Origin of guileful
Middle English word dating back to 1300–50; see origin at guile, -ful
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.
Ms. Jackson is no apologist—her James has flaws aplenty—but where prior historians offered snide caricature, she portrays a complex leader who was “intelligent, resilient, idiosyncratic, irascible, guileful and witty.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 5, 2025
The game still features plenty of lung-burning rallies, but there is much more action now in the front of the court — more drop shots and guileful flicks.
From New York Times • May 4, 2022
Creepy Santa never gets his ultimate comeuppance, guileful Snow White never finds her ideal prince.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 18, 2020
Facebook’s own guileful way of presenting the issue was to claim that while “passive” consumption of social media content could pose mental health risks, more engagement could “improve wellbeing”.
From The Guardian • Aug. 23, 2019
She had the sort of broad and guileful smile in which you couldn't help but believe—you just wanted to make her happy so you could keep seeing it.
From "An Abundance of Katherines" by John Green
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.
