slyboots

American  

[slahy-boots] / ˈslaɪˌbuts /

noun

(used with a singular verb)

1. an engagingly sly or mischievous person.

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slyboots British  

/ ˈslaɪˌbuːts /

plural noun

1. (functioning as singular) a person who is sly

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Etymology

Origin of slyboots

1690–1700; sly + boots (plural of boot ¹ ), used metonymically; cf. boots

Example Sentences

The oleaginous Texan is an erudite slyboots, but his history is off kilter.

From The New Yorker • Nov. 1, 2015

Jessica, the one with the slyboots expression, married a Red, Esmond Romilly, but then, he was a nephew of Sir Winston Churchill.

From Time Magazine Archive

We hide things like a slyboots, we'd rather die than breathe a word; we're not even considerate enough to enliven our home by relating what we've seen.'

From Abbe Mouret's Transgression by Zola, Émile

"Whereupon I wrote a line to my dear boy, the Honourable William Guppy, informing him of the appointment for to-night and advising him not to call before, Boguey being a slyboots."

From Bleak House by Dickens, Charles

And I hope you will next introduce a grandson to me, young slyboots.

From Wild Oats or, The Strolling Gentlemen by Anonymous