wile

American  

[wahyl] / waɪl /

noun

• wiles
  plural

1. a trick, artifice, or stratagem meant to fool, trap, or entice; device.

   Synonyms:

   maneuver, contrivance, deception

2. wiles, artful or beguiling behavior.

   Synonyms:

   maneuver, contrivance, deception

3. deceitful cunning; trickery.

   Synonyms:

   fraud, chicanery

---

verb (used with object)

wiled, wiling

1. to beguile, entice, or lure (usually followed by away, from, into, etc.).

   The music wiled him from his study.

verb phrase

1. wile away to spend or pass (time), especially in a leisurely or pleasurable fashion.

   to wile away the long winter nights.

wile British  

/ waɪl /

noun

1. trickery, cunning, or craftiness

2. (usually plural) an artful or seductive trick or ploy

---

verb

1. (tr) to lure, beguile, or entice

Synonym Usage

See trick.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• outwile
  verb (used with object)

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• wiles
  plural

---

Etymology

Origin of wile

1125–75; (noun) Middle English; late Old English wil, perhaps < Old Norse vēl artifice, earlier *wihl-

---

Explanation

The noun wile is good for describing a particular kind of deviousness, but its plural form is most commonly used. Your charming brother might use his wiles to talk your parents into loaning him money again and again. You can describe your cousin's knack for getting exactly what he wants through slyness and trickery as his wile. Language experts can only guess about the origin of wile, though many believe it's related to the Old Norse vél, or "craft." Others think there may be a connection with the Old English word for "wizard," wicca.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

wile wiles wiled wiling

However, the promised repayment date soon passed, wile Barnes continued reassuring them the money was coming.

From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026

Miura was third in the free skate to seize the last podium place with a total of 253.69 points wile Tomono, fifth in the free skate, was fourth with 251.46.

From Barron's ● Nov. 2, 2025

Here are 10 freshly published ones that should wile away a March afternoon nicely.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 2, 2023

The index of the economic outlook for the next 12 months slipped 0.4%, wile the outlook for the next five years climbed 5.2%.

From Reuters ● Dec. 12, 2022

They say you get used to bad smells after a wile.

From "The (Mostly) True Story of Cleopatra's Needle" by Dan Gutman

What follows is a modern picaresque journey, in which a clever underdog has to rely on her wit and wiles to survive a corrupt and perilous world.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026

Beneath the character’s flirtatious wiles, her powerful soprano brought steel to Blanche’s determination to live in her fantasy—a lost world of wealth and graciousness.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 15, 2026

England's scrum creaked, perhaps decisively, when the wisdom and wiles of Cole and Marler departed.

From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2023

My concern is that it’s all too tempting to yield to such wiles in the name of saving time and minimizing effort.

From Scientific American ● Sep. 29, 2023

But even if Gollum could be trusted on this point, Frodo did not forget the wiles of the Enemy.

From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien

As they had before the quake, they smoked cigars and wiled away the afternoon.

From New York Times ● Feb. 14, 2023

Adults wiled away days attending church, playing badminton, taking pottery classes and listening to music on the shores of a picturesque western New York lake.

From New York Times ● Aug. 13, 2022

A few years ago, I wiled away an evening with friends in a thermal bath in Segesta, in the same waters where ancient demigods reputedly used to frolic.

From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2021

It was at France House, for example, where Lochte and his swimming teammates wiled away the night before their fateful gas station incident.

From Time ● Aug. 21, 2016

Nothing could be further from the non-contact European court dances with which the colonial sugar-cane and coffee-plantation owners had wiled away their evenings before Cuban independence.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall

It comes down to trying to restore credibility in getting to the 2% Fed inflation target, said Moran of Wellington Management, “and are we wiling to take some of the medicine of cooling the economy?”

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 13, 2026

He said the case was brought to "a crashing halt" when Mr Collins outlined the limits of what he would be wiling to say in court.

From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2025

"Those banks seek safety of principle plus interest and are not interested in or wiling to forego either in the interest of dealing with the climate crisis," Wolff said.

From Salon ● Jun. 3, 2024

She also suggests asking yourself how much risk you’re wiling to take.

From Slate ● Nov. 16, 2023

Now these verses are in my mind:— 'Have we not caught the smiling On some beloved face, As if a heavenly sound were wiling The soul from our earthly place?—

From Story of My Life, volumes 1-3 by Augustus J. C. Hare

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• guile
• stratagem

---