sly
Americanadjective
idioms
adjective
-
crafty; artful
a sly dodge
-
insidious; furtive
a sly manner
-
playfully mischievous; roguish
sly humour
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of sly
First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English sly, sley , from Old Norse slœgr “sly, cunning” (originally “able to strike, able to slay”); see slay ( def. )
Explanation
When you're sly, you're crafty, cunning, tricky, and wily. Being sly is being deceitful, though not in the worst way. If you're good at lying, you're quite sly: people who are sly are good at pulling one over on other people. Being sly helps you get away with things. If you made a mess in your house but got your parents to blame the dog, that was sly. Being sly means you're not being honest, but this word has kind of a harmless flavor to it. Someone who killed someone and lied about it would not be described as sly. Slyness has to do with smaller, sneakier, more harmless kinds of lying.
Vocabulary lists containing sly
"The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
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Scrabble: Words with no Vowels
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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.
Sly Stone, who died last year, was married there in June 1974 to actress Kathy Silva during a concert by his band, Sly and the Family Stone.
From Barron's • Jun. 25, 2026
In between the live performance, the academy also showed video tributes for Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys, Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead and Sly Stone.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 2, 2026
"You get the impression that Sly Dunbar is chained to a studio seat somewhere in Jamaica, but in fact what happens is that his drum tracks are so interesting, they get used again and again."
From BBC • Jan. 26, 2026
Reggae legend Sly Dunbar, who played with everyone from Bob Marley to The Rolling Stones, has died at the age of 73.
From BBC • Jan. 26, 2026
Sometimes Michael Jackson is singing that A-B-C is as easy as 1-2-3 or Sly and the Family Stone are thanking us for letting them be themselves.
From "Brown Girl Dreaming" by Jacqueline Woodson
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.
