wile
[wahyl]
- a trick, artifice, or stratagem meant to fool, trap, or entice; device.
- wiles, artful or beguiling behavior.
- deceitful cunning; trickery.
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- to beguile, entice, or lure (usually followed by away, from, into, etc.): The music wiled him from his study.
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- wile away, to spend or pass (time), especially in a leisurely or pleasurable fashion: to wile away the long winter nights.
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Origin of wile
1125–75; (noun) Middle English; late Old English wil, perhaps < Old Norse vēl artifice, earlier *wihl-
Synonyms
See more synonyms for wile on Thesaurus.comDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for wiles
Contemporary Examples
Wiles initially denied that he had performed as Mona Sinclair to the Winston-Salem Journal before eventually coming clean.
Eventually though, Wiles was suspended for "conduct unbecoming to a Promoter of the Miss Gay America pageant system."
For Wiles, appearing in Web series has been an enriching experience.
In the race to snatch children from the tightening noose around the Warsaw ghetto, she must use all her wiles.
The neocons and their allies have lost their administration but not their agenda or their wiles.
Historical Examples
Al. “Hud a phyd,” “The valour of the forward Elphin had recourse to wiles and stratagems.”
Y GododinAneurin
But with the captain her wiles were not so readily successful.
St. Martin's SummerRafael Sabatini
Who ever equalled us in all the wiles and schemes of mankind?
One Of ThemCharles James Lever
She has wiles and ways which, with her beauty, make her nigh irresistible.'
Lord KilgobbinCharles Lever
But for her and her wiles I had never been married to your father!
Roland CashelCharles James Lever
wile
- trickery, cunning, or craftiness
- (usually plural) an artful or seductive trick or ploy
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- (tr) to lure, beguile, or entice
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Word Origin
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
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Word Origin and History for wiles
wile
n.
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.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper