sly
[ slahy ]
/ slaɪ /
adjective, sly·er, sly·est.
cunning or wily: sly as a fox.
stealthy, insidious, or secret.
playfully artful, mischievous, or roguish: sly humor.
QUIZZES
HEED THE VOX POPULI, AND TAKE THIS WORD OF THE DAY QUIZ!
Test your memory on these verbal firecrackers from the week of June 29 to July 5!
Question 1 of 7
anchorite
Idioms for sly
on the sly, secretly; furtively: a tryst on the sly.
Origin of sly
1150–1200; Middle English sly, sley, from Old Norse slœgr “sly, cunning” (originally “able to strike, able to slay”); see slay
SYNONYMS FOR sly
OTHER WORDS FROM sly
Words nearby sly
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020
Example sentences from the Web for slyest
British Dictionary definitions for slyest
sly
/ (slaɪ) /
adjective slyer, slyest, slier or sliest
crafty; artfula sly dodge
insidious; furtivea sly manner
playfully mischievous; roguishsly humour
noun
on the sly in a secretive manner
Derived forms of sly
slyly or slily, adverbslyness, nounWord Origin for sly
C12: from Old Norse slǣgr clever, literally: able to strike, from slā to slay
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Idioms and Phrases with slyest
sly
see on the sly.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.