sly

sly
    adj 1: marked by skill in deception; "cunning men often pass for
           wise"; "deep political machinations"; "a foxy scheme"; "a
           slick evasive answer"; "sly as a fox"; "tricky Dick"; "a
           wily old attorney" [syn: {crafty}, {cunning}, {dodgy},
           {foxy}, {guileful}, {knavish}, {slick}, {sly}, {tricksy},
           {tricky}, {wily}]
    

Sly \Sly\, a. [Compar. {Slier}or {Slyer}; superl. {Sliest} or
   {Slyest}.] [OE. sli, slegh, sleih, Icel. sl?gr, for sl?gr;
   akin to Sw. slug, Dan. slu, LG. slou, G. schlau; probably to
   E. slay, v.t.; cf. G. verschlagen sly. See {Slay}, v. t., and
   cf. {Sleight}.]
   1. Dexterous in performing an action, so as to escape notice;
      nimble; skillful; cautious; shrewd; knowing; -- in a good
      sense.
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            Be ye sly as serpents, and simple as doves. --Wyclif
                                                  (Matt. x. 16).
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            Whom graver age
            And long experience hath made wise and sly.
                                                  --Fairfax.
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   2. Artfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily.
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            For my sly wiles and subtle craftiness,
            The litle of the kingdom I possess.   --Spenser.
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   3. Done with, and marked by, artful and dexterous secrecy;
      subtle; as, a sly trick.
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            Envy works in a sly and imperceptible manner. --I.
                                                  Watts.
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   4. Light or delicate; slight; thin. [Obs.]
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   {By the sly}, or {On the sly}, in a sly or secret manner.
      [Colloq.] "Gazed on Hetty's charms by the sly." --G.
      Eliot.

   {Sly goose} (Zool.), the common sheldrake; -- so named from
      its craftiness.
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   Syn: Cunning; crafty; subtile; wily. See {Cunning}.
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Sly \Sly\, adv.
   Slyly. [Obs. or Poetic] --Spenser.
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98 Moby Thesaurus words for "sly":
      Byzantine, Machiavellian, Machiavellic, acute, adroit, arch,
      artful, astute, back-door, backstairs, cagey, calculating, canny,
      clandestine, clever, covert, crafty, creep, crooked, cunning, cute,
      deceitful, deep, deep-laid, designing, devious, dexterous,
      diplomatic, dishonest, disingenuous, downy, feline, foxy, furtive,
      guileful, gumshoe, hidlings, hole-and-corner, hugger-mugger,
      ingenious, insidious, inventive, knowing, lurk, masterful, pawky,
      politic, predatory, privy, quiet, ready, resourceful, scheming,
      serpentine, shady, sharp, shifty, shrewd, skulk, skulking, slick,
      slide, slim, slink, slinking, slinky, slippery, smart, smooth,
      snake, snaky, sneaking, sneaky, snook, sophistical, steal,
      stealthy, strategic, subtile, subtle, supple, surreptitious,
      tactical, trickish, tricksy, tricky, under-the-counter,
      under-the-table, undercover, underground, underhand, underhanded,
      unfrank, unobtrusive, unscrupulous, vulpine, wary, wily