wily
[wahy-lee]
- full of, marked by, or proceeding from wiles; crafty; cunning.
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Origin of wily
Synonyms
See more synonyms for wily on Thesaurus.comartful, sly, designing, intriguing, tricky, foxy, deceitful, treacherous.
Antonyms
straightforward, open.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for wily
Contemporary Examples
As wily as his character when asked about it, Sheen proved himself to be a master of the media, feinting with a good sound bite.
Rick Wilson, a top Florida GOP political consultant, describes Rivera as “a wily character ... [who has] run out of tricks.”
He was wily and stylish enough to walk around the field scoring off defenders young enough to be his children.
The distorted image of the wily Jesuit is unlikely to disappear.
They were wily, changing their car tags along the road and possibly tossing their cell phones.
Historical Examples
I roused my energies, and the next time the wily Beadle summoned me, I went.
The Uncommercial TravellerCharles Dickens
The stratagem of the wily savage was thus perfectly successful.
King PhilipJohn S. C. (John Stevens Cabot) Abbott
It was a time for confidences, and the wily Mrs. Dunn realized that fact.
Cap'n Warren's WardsJoseph C. Lincoln
In marrying Ben Aboo, the wily Katrina imposed two conditions.
The ScapegoatHall Caine
It was a wily trap he had set me, worthy only of a trickster.
Bardelys the MagnificentRafael Sabatini
wily
- characterized by or proceeding from wiles; sly or crafty
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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 wily
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper