wile

[wahyl]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR wile ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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

wiles, artful or beguiling behavior.

deceitful cunning; trickery.

verb (used with object), wiled, wil·ing.

to beguile, entice, or lure (usually followed by away, from, into, etc.): The music wiled him from his study.

Verb Phrases

wile away, to spend or pass (time), especially in a leisurely or pleasurable fashion: to wile away the long winter nights.

Origin of wile

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

Related formsout·wile, verb (used with object), out·wiled, out·wil·ing.

Can be confusedwhile wile

Synonyms for wile

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR wile ON THESAURUS.COM

1, 2. deception, contrivance, maneuver. See trick. 3. chicanery, fraud.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for wile

stratagem, guile, artfulness, scam, twist, device, artifice, racket, gimmick, fraud, plot, cheating, deception, trickery, dishonesty, ploy, dodge, maneuver, lure, slant

Examples from the Web for wile

Contemporary Examples of wile

Wile E. Coyote is running after the Road Runner and eventually finds he has run off a cliff.
Vancouver Real-Estate Market Unlikely Victim of China Slowdown
Vikram Mansharamani
November 12, 2012
To accomplish this goal, Netanyahu used a simple chart that looked like a Wile E. Coyote bomb.
How Bibi Messed Up His Bomb Chart
Ali Gharib
September 27, 2012
Like Wile E. Coyote, they will keep running until everyone else recognizes that there is no ground beneath their feet.
The End of TV Campaign Ads?
John Avlon
October 27, 2011

Historical Examples of wile

Now, by some pretext, by some wile, he must live to see her once more.
Way of the Lawless
Max Brand
Without a double of any kind,—a creature that does not know a wile or a stratagem!
Confessions Of Con Cregan
Charles James Lever
But I had rather she had more earthliness and wile than be the pawn of Venice.
The Royal Pawn of Venice
Mrs. Lawrence Turnbull
When every other wile had been tried in vain, he got Archie to propose a game with forfeits.
Eight Cousins
Louisa M. Alcott
She would be possessed of every art and wile of the women of her trade.
The Heart of Unaga
Ridgwell Cullum

British Dictionary definitions for wile

wile

noun

trickery, cunning, or craftiness

(usually plural) an artful or seductive trick or ploy

verb

(tr) to lure, beguile, or entice

Word Origin for wile

C12: from Old Norse vel craft; probably related to Old French wīle, Old English wīgle magic. See guile

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

Word Origin and History for wile

mid-12c., wil "wile, trick," perhaps from Old North French *wile (Old French guile), or directly from a Scandinavian source (cf. Old Norse vel "trick, craft, fraud," vela "defraud"). Perhaps ultimately related to Old English wicca "wizard" (see Wicca). Lighter sense of "amorous or playful trick" is from c.1600. Wily is attested from c.1300.