wily

wily

adjective \ˈwī-lē\

wil·i·erwil·i·est

Definition of WILY

: full of wiles : crafty <a wily negotiator>

— wil·i·ly \-lə-lē\ adverb

— wil·i·ness \-lē-nəs\ noun

Examples of WILY

1. She turned out to be a wily negotiator.
2. <a wily judge of character, she takes advantage of car buyers' insecurities to sell them a bigger machine than they really need>

First Known Use of WILY

14th century

Related to WILY

Synonyms

beguiling, cagey (also cagy), crafty, cunning, cute, designing, devious, dodgy [chiefly British], foxy, guileful, scheming, shrewd, slick, sly, subtle, tricky, artful

Antonyms

artless, guileless, ingenuous, innocent, undesigning

Related Words

astute, facile, glib, sharp; crooked, deceitful, deceptive, dishonest, fraudulent, insinuating, knavish, Machiavellian, oblique, serpentine, shady, shifty, slippery, sneaky, treacherous, underhand, underhanded, unscrupulous; backhanded, double-dealing, hypocritical, insincere, left-handed, mealy, mealymouthed, smooth-tongued, two-faced; circuitous, circular, roundabout; clandestine, concealed, covert, furtive, hugger-mugger, secret, stealthy, surreptitious, undercover; calculating, plotting

Near Antonyms

obvious, open, patent, plain, public, unconcealed; aboveboard, candid, direct, forthright, frank, honest, natural, outspoken, plainspoken, real, simple, sincere, straightforward, unaffected, unpretending, unpretentious, unvarnished; childlike, impressionable, simpleminded, unsophisticated, unworldly; unforced, unstudied; trustful, trusting

See Synonym Discussion at sly

Rhymes with WILY

highly, maile, riley, shyly, slyly, smiley, spryly, Wiley, wryly