Sly

Definition: Sly

Sly

Adjective

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".

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

"Sly" is a name that signifies or is derived from: "of the forest", "the wood", "the forest".

Date "sly" was first used: sometime around 1200. (references)

Note: Sly \Sly\, adjective. [Comparative Slieror Slyer; superlative Sliestor Slyest.]. (references)

Literature

Multilingual Slang

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Synonyms: Sly

Concealment

Obrep furtive, stealthy, feline; skulking; Verb: surreptitious, underhand, hole and corner; sly; (cunning).; secretive, evasive; reserved, reticent, uncommunicative, buttoned up; close, close as wax; taciturn.

Januis clausis, with closed doors, a huis clos; hugger mugger, a la derobee; under the cloak of, under the rose, under the table; sub rosa, en tapinois, in the background, aside, on the sly, with bated breath, sotto voce, in a whisper, without beat of drum, a la sourdine.

Cunning

Ulysses, Machiavel, sly boots, fox, reynard; Scotchman; Jew, Yankee; intriguer, intrigant; floater, Indian giver, keener, repeater.

Adverb: cunningly; Adjective: slyly, slily, on the sly, by a side wind.

Adjective: cunning, crafty, artful; skillful; subtle, feline, vulpine; cunning as a fox, cunning as a serpent; deep, deep laid; profound; designing, contriving; intriguing;Verb: strategic, diplomatic, politic, Machiavelian, timeserving; artificial; tricky, tricksy; wily, sly, slim, insidious, stealthy; underhand; (hidden); subdolous; deceitful; slippery as an eel, evasive; crooked; arch, pawky, shrewd, acute; sharp, sharp as a tack, sharp as a needle; canny, astute, leery, knowing, up to snuff, too clever by half, not to be caught with chaff.

Crosswords: Sly

Look, we've got to be sly and stealthy, and you're too pissed (S.O.B.; writing credit: Blake Edwards)

There's an old song that says: One white foot buy 'em, two white feet try 'em, three white feet be on the sly, four white feet pass 'em by. (True Grit; writing credit: Charles Portis; Marguerite Roberts)

'Cause, one time or other, every man is driven crazy by his wife, and in his secret heart, he wants to do exactly what Claus is accused of: kill her in some sly, silent way that can't be detected (Reversal of Fortune; writing credit: Nicholas Kazan)

More of a sly suggestion (The Avengers; writing credit: Paul Monash)

You're so sly but so am I. (Manhunter; writing credit: Thomas Harris; Michael Mann)

Sly Sam slurps Sally's soup. (references; author: unknown)

Sly Fly (1965)

The Shop at Sly Corner (1947)

Sly Spy (1989)

EVERYBODY IS A STAR� (performing artist: Sly & Family Stone� )

THANK YOU� (performing artist: Sly & Family Stone� )

If You Want Me to Stay (performing artist: Sly & The Family Stone)

Dance to the Music (performing artist: Sly and The Family Stone)

Everyday People (performing artist: Sly and the Family Stone)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Books

• Barkus, Sly and the Golden Egg (reference)

• Sly and Able: A Political Biography of James F. Byrnes (reference)

• Sly and the Family Stone: An Oral History (For the Record) (reference)

• Ten Sly Piranhas: A Counting Story in Reverse (reference)

• The Return of Rinaldo, the Sly Fox (A North-Sourth Paperback) (reference)

  (more book examples)

Music

• Wolf-Ferrari - Sly / Carreras, Milnes, Cantarero (reference)

  (more classical music examples; more popular music examples)

High Tech

• Sly Cooper and the Thievious Racoonus (reference)

  (more camera examples; more video game examples; more computer examples; more electronic examples; more software examples)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Roberta Sly (62) works on her flowers in front of her apartment at Placer West Apartments in CA. Credit: USDA.

Folger Library copy work. Portrait of William Sly. Credit: Library of Congress.

Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

He saw a short word prepared for Emma, and given to her with a look sly and demure

Thenardier was sly, greedy, lounging, and clever

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Health

Individuals with MPS VII, Sly disease, experience corneal clouding, skeletal irregularities, and enlargement of the liver and spleen. (references)

Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Expressions using "sly": a sly dog ♦ By the sly ♦ do smth. on the sly ♦ on the sly ♦ sly boots ♦ sly dog ♦ sly fellow ♦ sly fox ♦ sly goose ♦ sly old fox ♦ sly person. Additional references.

Beginning with "sly": sly-looking, sly-punching, sly-stepped.

Ending with "sly": half-sly.

Afrikaans

slim (clever, cunning, smart). (various references)

Albanian

tinëzar (catlike, crafty, foxy, insidious, shifty, sly person, slyboots, sneak, sneaky, stealthy, underground, underhand), mençur (clever, cunning, smart), i fshehtë (backdoor, clandestine, close, colorable, colourable, confidential, cryptic, dark, deep, deep-seated, elfish, elvish, esoteric, furtive, hidden, hole-and-corner, insidious, internal, latent, occult, Perdue, private, privy, quiet, secret, secretive, stealthy, subterranean, under the counter, under the table, under wraps, undercover, underhand, underhanded, unearthly, veiled), dinake (clever, cunning, smart), dinak (argute, artful, canny, crafty, cunning, daedalian, devious, furtive, leery, pawky, sleeky, wily), dhelparak (cunning, foxy, sleeky, slyboots). (various references)

Arabic 

‏كائد (crafty, cunning, wily), ‏مخادع (artful, bluff, bluffer, crafty, deceitful, deceptive, delusive, devious, dishonest, disingenuous, double, double dealing, double-tongued, face, false, fraudulent, hustler, illusive, illusory, indirect, insincere, misguiding, misleading, trickish, tricky, underhand, wily), ‏ماكر (artful, crafty, cunning, deceitful, deep, designing, disingenuous, feline, foxlike, foxy, furtive, guileful, malicious, pawky, politic, scheming, sharper, slick, slim, smart, subtle, trick, vulpine, wily), ‏خبيث (bad, black-hearted, dark, evil, evil-minded, malevolent, malicious, malignant, pernicious, rake, roue, vicious, viperous, virulent, vulpine, wicked, wily), ‏شاطر (bed, cunning, participate, share out, smart), ‏داهية (adroit, artful, astute, pawky, quizzical, resourceful, shifty, shrewd). (various references)

Bulgarian 

хитър (acute, arch, artful, calculating, catty, clever, crafty, cunning, cute, deep, designing, disingenuous, dodgy, foxy, guileful, insidious, knowing, leery, long-headed, parlous, patent, pawky, politic, sharp, shifty, shrewd, sleek, slim, smart, supple, wary, wide, wily, wordly-wise), закачлив (chaffy, facetious, jesting, kittenish, larky, perky, playful, pleasant, roguish, skittish, troublesome, waggish), лукав (astute, crafty, designing, feline, furtive, guileful, parlous, pawky, serpentine, snaky, subtle, tricky, underhand, wicked, wily), потаен (cagey, cagy, covert, disingenuous, furtive, hush hush, inner, reserved, reticent, secret, secretive, stealthy, subterranean, underhand), ироничен (bland, derisive, derisory, dry, ironic, pawky). (various references)

Chinese 

隱密 , 鬼 (crafty, ghost), 詭 (crafty), 猾 (multitude), 狡猾 (crafty, cunning), 狡 (crafty, cunning), 油 (oil). (various references)

Czech

vychytralý (artful, astute, designing, devious, shrewd, shrewish, wily), potutelný (furtive), mazaný (artful, cannie, canny, crafty, cunning, nifty, sharp, slick). (various references)

Dutch

slim (clever, cunning, difficult, hard, inconvenient, smart), listig (clever, cunning, smart), gewiekst (clever, cunning, smart), doortrapt (clever, cunning, smart). (various references)

Esperanto

ruza (clever, cunning, smart). (various references)

Faeroese

snildur (clever, cunning, smart), sniðfundigur (acute, astute, clever, cunning, shrewd, smart). (various references)

Farsi 

موذی (Arch, Baneful, Insidious, Mischievous, Shrewd), محیل (Astute, Pawky, Subtle), ناقلا (Arch, Astute, Clever, Rogue, Shrewd), کنایه دار (Witty), ادم تودار, ادم اب زیرکاه , شیطنت امیز. (various references)

Finnish

viekas (clever, crafty, cunning, shrewd, smart). (various references)

French

rusé (slick, slim), malin (slyboots). (various references)

Frisian

liep (clever, cunning, smart), gewykst (clever, cunning, smart). (various references)

German

schlau (artful, astute, brightly, canny, clever, cleverly, crafty, cunning, cunningly, cute, foxy, leery, neat, neatly, nifty, sharp, shifty, shrewd, shrewdly, slily, slyly, smart, smartly, sneaky, vulpine, vulpinely, wily, wise), listig (artful, clever, crafty, cunning, cunningly, foxy, guileful, smart, vulpine, wily), gerieben (chafed, clever, cunning, fly, grated, grinded, rubbed, smart, tricky), durchtrieben (crafty, cunning, scheming). (various references)

Greek 

ύπουλος (devious, furtive, insidious, underhanded), πανούργοσ (arch, artful, astute, canny, crafty, cunning, designing, parlous, pawky, sharp, shrewd, slyish, subtile, subtle, vulpine, wily), πανούργος (wily), πονηρόσ (canny, cunning, foxy, tricky), πονηρός (artful, cunning, sneaky, tricky), δόλιοσ (deceitful, dishonest, fraudulent, guileful, lurking, snaky, trappy, treacherous, two faced, underhand, underhanded, wily). (various references)

Hawaiian

mençur (clever, cunning, smart), dinake (clever, cunning, smart). (various references)

Hebrew 

שובבי (impish, mischievous, naughty, puckish, rogue, roguish, sportive, urchin, wanton), קו� �"סי (mischievous, prankish, puckish), ערמומי (arch, artful, calculating, canny, catchy, crafty, cunning, devious, foxy, insidious, pawky, shifty, slicker, underhand, wily). (various references)

Hungarian

sunyi (hang-dog, hanging, have a hang-dog look, shifty, sneaking), ravasz (acute, artful, astute, be cunning, cagey, cagy, calculating, canny, catchy, colubrine, crafted, crafty, cunning, cute, deep, drafty, draughty, elusive, foxy, gimmicky, guileful, insidious, knowing, leery, pawky, shifty, shrewd, slick, slim, to know how many beans make five, trappy, tricksy, tricky, trigger, vulpine, wily), okos (advised, brainy, bright, canny, clever, cunning, judicious, nimble, nimble-minded, nimble-witted, prudent, sagacious, sharp, shrewd, smart, sophisticated, wise), alattomos (cunning, disingenuous, guileful, hang-dog, hanging, perfidious, shrewd, sneaking, surreptitious, underhand), agyafúrt (artful, coony, cute, dodgy, foxy, leery, out and out, pawky, sharp, shrewd, tricksy, tricky, wily). (various references)

Indonesian

lihai (adroit, cagey). (various references)

Italian

furbo (artful, clever, crafty, cunning, foxy, shrewd, smart, smartly, tricky). (various references)

Japanese Kanji 

狡賢い , 狡猾 , 狡い (cunning), ずる賢い (gap, hastily, impetuously, petty, rapidly, slippage, small-minded, stingy, to badger, to slide, to slip off), 悪賢い (crafty, cunning, wily). (various references)

Japanese Katakana 

ずるがし�"い, ずるい (cunning), �"うかつ (spacious), わるがし�"い (crafty, cunning, wily). (various references)

Manx

gyn yss (by stealth, clandestinely, covert, in secret, on the sly, secretly, surreptitious, surreptitiously, unadvised, unawares, unconsciously, unexpected). (various references)

Papiamen

djispou (clever, cunning, smart), bispou (clever, cunning, smart). (various references)

Pig Latin

yslay.(various references)

Portuguese

astuto (acute, adroit, arch, artful, astucious, astute, canny, clearheaded, clever, crafty, cunning, designing, guileful, jesuitic, jesuitical, leery, longheaded, machiavellian, perspicacious, sharp, shifty, shrewd, smart, sophisticated, subtil, subtile, subtle, tricksy, tricky, vulpine, wily). (various references)

Romanian

subţire (choice, cunning, delicate, filmy, fine, fine-drawn, flimsy, hour-glass, jejune, papery, reedy, refined, shrewd, shrill, skinny, slender, slight, slim, small, spidery, squeamish, stalky, subtle, tall, tenuous, thin, thinly, weak, wiry), viclean (arch, artful, astute, cagey, catlike, catty, crafty, cunning, cute, deceitful, downy, foxy, guileful, leery, pawky, quick-witted, shifty, slyly, subtle, wily), glumeţ (amusing, facetious, funny, humorous, jestful, jesting, jocose, lively, merry, playful, prankish, wag, witty), fãcut pe furiş, fãcut pe ascuns (done in a corner), dibaci (adroit, artful, clever, deft, dexterous, handy, skilful, skilled, skillful, slick, subtle, tricky), şmecher (acute, arch, artful, astute, canny, catchy, clever, crafty, cunning, cute, deep, dodger, downy, leery, sharp, shaver, shifty, slick, slippery, slyboots, wise guy), şiret (arch, artful, canny, cord, crafty, cunning, fox-like, gimp, guileful, lace, pawkily, pawky, sharp, shifty, slyboots, slyly, string, subtle, tricky, wily), abil (adroit, apt, artful, artistic, artistical, astute, clean, clever, competent, crafty, cunning, deep, deft, dexterous, fit, handy, industrious, knowing, natty, qualified, ready, resourceful, sharp, shifty, skilful, skilfully, skilled, skillful, skillfully, smart, subtle, swift-handed, versatile). (various references)

Russian 

хитрый (artful, astute, cagey, cattish, catty, crafty, cunning, disingenuous, insidious, leery, pawky, rat-face, serpentine, sleeky, tricky, vulpine, wily). (various references)

Scottish

slìogach (subtle), ligeach. (various references)

Serbo-Croatian

skriven (cachectic, delitescent, dormant, furtive, hidden, hole-and-corner, secret, sneaky, stealthy, surreptitious), prepreden (artful, cagey, cagy, cunning, guileful, politic, sharp, shrewd, slick, smart, subtle, tricksy, tricky, vulpine), lukav (arch, artful, astute, cagey, cagy, canny, captious, crafty, cunning, designing, insidious, leery, perfidious, shrewd, sleeky, tricky, vulpine, wily). (various references)

Spanish

furtivo (furtive, hole-and-corner, sneak, sneaking, sneaky, stealthy). (various references)

Sranan

koni (clever, cunning, smart). (various references)

Swahili

-erevu (clever, cunning, smart), erevu (clever, cunning, smart). (various references)

Swedish

slug (artful, astute, cagey, canny, clever, crafty, cunning, designing, foxy, knowing, leery, sharp, shifty, shrewd, smart, tricky, wily), listig (artful, clever, crafty, cunning, deep, dodgy, sharp, shifty, tricky, vulpine, wily), lömsk (insidious, low down, ornery, shifty, sinister, sneaky, treacherous, underhand), bakslug (crafty, underhand). (various references)

Thai

ซึ่งทำอย่างลับๆ, ซึ่งมีเล่ห์เหลี่ยม (slick). (various references)

Turkish

sinsi (cattish, catty, furtive, gloating, hole-and-corner, insidious, slinky, snaky, sneaking, sneaky, underarm, underhand), zekí (clever, cunning, smart), tilki gibi (crafty, cunning, foxy, vulpine), muzip (buffoon, hoaxer, prankish, puckish, quizzical, rogue, teasing, tormenting, tricksy, waggish, wicked), kurnaz (arch, artful, astute, cagey, calculating, canny, cattish, catty, coon, crafty, cunning, cute, designing, dodger, dodgy, downy, feline, Fox, foxy, hard boiled, heady, knowing, leery, politic, quirky, roguish, serpentine, sharp, shifty, shrewd, slick, slim, sly old fox, slyboots, smart, subtile, tricky, vulpine, weasel, wheeler dealer, wide awake, wily, wise guy), şeytan (adversary, arch fiend, artful, cloven foot, cloven hoof, crafty, cunning, daemon, demon, devil, fiend, old harry, old nick, prince of darkness, the arch-enemy, the devil, the evil one, the old dragon, the old enemy, the tempter, wily), akili (clever, cunning, smart), açikgöz (clever, clever person, cunning, smart). (various references)

Turkmen 

mekir (crafty). (various references)

Ukrainian

хитрий (arch, argute, artful, astute, canny, cattish, crafty, cunning, devious, doleful, enterprising, foxy, hard-headed, leery, pawky, shifting, shrewd, tricky, wide, wily), та�"мний (arcane, back door, backstairs, clandestine, close, closet, colorable, colourable, covert, cryptic, esoteric, hideaway, hole-and-corner, hugger mugger, hush hush, invisible, mystic, occult, occulted, offscreen, private, secret, sneaking, stealthy, subterranean, surreptitious, undercover), пустотливий (airy, arch, coltish, elfish, elvish, frisky, gamesome, impish, kittenish, mischievous, monkeyish, naughty, prankish, puckish, roguish, waggish, wanton, whisky), підступний (astute, cattish, crafty, cunning, dastardly, guileful, insidious, jesuitic, jesuitical, serpentine, skittish, treacherous, vulpine, wily, witty), пронозливий (nosey). (various references)

Vietnamese 

ranh mãnh (knowing, knowingly, mischievous), mánh lới (deceit, management, racket, tip), hay châm biếm, bí mật hay đùa ác. (various references)

Welsh

slei, ffel (cunning, sharp). (various references)

astuti, astutior, astutus, callide, callidi, callidior, callidus, captiosus, dolosus, subdolus, trebax, vafer. (various references)

slim. (various references)

Derivations

Words beginning with "sly": slyboots, slyer, slyest, slyly, slyness, slynesses, slype, slypes. (additional references)

Words ending with "sly": abstemiously, acrimoniously, adulterously, advantageously, adventitiously, adventurously, agelessly, aimlessly, ambidextrously, ambiguously, ambitiously, amorously, amorphously, amphibiously, anachronously, analogously, anomalously, anonymously, anxiously, arduously, artlessly, assiduously, asynchronously, atrociously, audaciously, auspiciously, autochthonously, autoeciously, autogenously, autonomously, avariciously, barbarously, bassly, beauteously, bibulously, bigamously, biliously, blamelessly, blasphemously, bloodlessly, bodaciously, boisterously, bootlessly, bottomlessly, boundlessly, bounteously, brainlessly, breathlessly, bulbously, bumptiously, burglariously. (additional references)

Words containing "sly": mislying. (additional references)

Misspellings

"Sly" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: asyl, cly, hly, ls, lsi, nsl, Qly, qsy, Rly, scy, Selye, sily, siy, sl, slc, sld, sli, slie, sliv, sliy, sloy, slp, slq, slr, sls, slu, slv, slw, slyd, slyh, slyn, slys, slyt, smy, soly, suy, swy, sxy, sy, syl, sylh, syli, syy, uly, wlly, ziy, zly. (additional references)

Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

+1 letter: lays, leys, lyes, lyse, slay, syli.

+2 letters: acyls, amyls, aryls, asyla, byrls, clays, cloys, flays, fleys, gleys, hylas, idyls, lossy, lousy, lusty, lyase, lyres, lysed, lyses, lysin, lysis, lyssa, odyls, palsy, plays, ploys, polys, sadly, sally, salty, scaly, seely, shaly, shily, shyly, sibyl, silky, silly, silty, slaty, slays, slily, slimy, sloyd, slyer, slyly, slype, sonly, splay, style, styli, sulky, sully, surly, sylis, sylph, sylva, wyles, yawls, yelks, yells, yelps, yills, ylems, yolks, yowls, yules.