wily en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- /ˈwaɪ.li/
- (US) audio
Etymology
From Middle English wily, wiley, wyly. By surface analysis, wil(e) + -y.
Meanings
-
Sly, cunning, full of tricks.
Horatio's new girlfriend is a wily coquette, and poor Horatio is too smitten to see it.
Of all the medical monsters Peter Hotez could have set out to slay, the Yale University researcher could not have chosen a more wily and obscure villain than the hookworm.
1996 October 6, William Hathaway, “PARASITE LINKS MEN IN DARING VENTURE”, in Hartford Courant, archived from the original on 28 Nov 2020:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| wiliest | Degree=Sup | lexicographic | |
| more wily | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic | |
| most wily | Degree=Sup | lexicographic | |
| wilier | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic |
Antonyms
unwise · ingenuous · gullible · guileless · naive · honest
Deriveds
unwily · wiliness · overwily · wilily · wily beguily
Hypernyms
Relateds
Synonyms
tricky · cunning · slim · tricksy · crafty · foxy · devious · foxlike · shrewd · frood · cautelous · subtle · artful · vulpine · guileful · sly · diabolical · astute · wily
Translations (62)
pdt schlau (sly, cunning) · mi hangahangarau (sly, cunning) · fr perfide (sly, cunning) · sk prefíkaný (sly, cunning) · pt ladino (sly, cunning) · nl gewiekst (sly, cunning) · pl sprytny (sly, cunning) · fr rusé (sly, cunning) · ja 狡い (sly, cunning) · pt matreiro (sly, cunning) · ru лука́вый (sly, cunning) · sv illistig (sly, cunning) · pt finório (sly, cunning) · fi viekas (sly, cunning) · hu ravasz (sly, cunning) · ota قورناز (sly, cunning) · it furbo (sly, cunning) · fi ovela (sly, cunning) · cmn 狡猾 (sly, cunning) · fi kavala (sly, cunning) · la vafer (sly, cunning) · ja 狡猾な (sly, cunning) · oc fals (sly, cunning) · bg хитър (sly, cunning) · ru хи́трый (sly, cunning) · el πονηρός (sly, cunning) · oc enganaire (sly, cunning) · ko 교활한 (sly, cunning) · sv slug (sly, cunning) · sv lömsk (sly, cunning) · fi kiero (sly, cunning) · es astuto (sly, cunning) · cs prohnaný (sly, cunning) · grc κίδαφος (sly, cunning) · gd carach (sly, cunning) · es listo (sly, cunning) · fi luihu (sly, cunning) · de listig (sly, cunning) · fi juonikas (sly, cunning) · la dolōsus (sly, cunning) · el πανούργος (sly, cunning) · it subdolo (sly, cunning) · de schlau (sly, cunning) · cs vychytralý (sly, cunning) · ru проны́рливый (sly, cunning) · ru изворо́тливый (sly, cunning) · it sornione (sly, cunning) · de gerissen (sly, cunning) · nl snood (sly, cunning) · gd seòlta (sly, cunning) · cs mazaný (sly, cunning) · pl przebiegły (sly, cunning) · ota آصمق (sly, cunning) · gl astuto (sly, cunning) · es pillo (sly, cunning) · oc ganèl (sly, cunning) · da snu (sly, cunning) · la versūtus (sly, cunning) · gd seanacach (sly, cunning) · fr fourbe (sly, cunning) · bg лукав (sly, cunning) · pl chytry (sly, cunning)