wilier; wiliest
: full of wiles : crafty
a wily negotiator
wilily adverb
wiliness noun
Choose the Right Synonym for wily

sly, cunning, crafty, wily, tricky, foxy, artful, slick mean attaining or seeking to attain one's ends by guileful or devious means.

sly implies furtiveness, lack of candor, and skill in concealing one's aims and methods.

a sly corporate raider

cunning suggests the inventive use of sometimes limited intelligence in overreaching or circumventing.

the cunning fox avoided the trap

crafty implies cleverness and subtlety of method.

a crafty lefthander

wily implies skill and deception in maneuvering.

the wily fugitive escaped the posse

tricky is more likely to suggest shiftiness and unreliability than skill in deception and maneuvering.

a tricky political operative

foxy implies a shrewd and wary craftiness usually involving devious dealing.

a foxy publicity man planting stories

artful implies indirectness in dealing and often connotes sophistication or cleverness.

elicited the information by artful questioning

slick emphasizes smoothness and guile.

slick operators selling time-sharing

Examples of wily in a Sentence

She turned out to be a wily negotiator. a wily judge of character, she takes advantage of car buyers' insecurities to sell them a bigger machine than they really need
Recent Examples on the Web But to meet his destiny as a fur-trapping legend, Jean must contend with a wily beaver population — often spied in teams of two, carting logs toward a mysterious location — who harbor their own plans for survival-of-the-fittest domination. Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 15 Mar. 2024 The promising aspects start with the effective mix of young unknowns and wily veterans stepping into these big roles. Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 22 Feb. 2024 Achieving an effective vaccine has taken so long because malaria is a uniquely wily foe. Maryn McKenna, WIRED, 9 Oct. 2023 Retelling the story of this wily chocolatier might seem a daunting task. Mayukh Sen, Bon Appétit, 15 Dec. 2023 Spielberg is tickled by the grifter in Schindler, the wily operator who sets out to amass a fortune on the backs of Polish Jewish workers, only to then spend that same fortune to save as many of those workers as possible. Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times, 14 Dec. 2023 Blunt’s lengthier film résumé gives her an edge. Nominations: Blunt SUPPORTING ACTOR Robert Downey Jr.’s wily, ranging turn as Adm. Lewis Strauss, Oppenheimer’s antagonist, is essentially a second lead in the movie. Glenn Whipp, Los Angeles Times, 13 Nov. 2023 Ian Sweet: Sucker [Polyvinyl] Sucker, the fourth album from wily pop and indie-rock artist Ian Sweet, injects the songwriter’s self-scrutinizing lyrics with soaring melodies expand upon every element of her diverse catalog. Allison Hussey, Pitchfork, 3 Nov. 2023 Finally, a wily coyote has airport security running in circles in Los Angeles. CNN, 31 Oct. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'wily.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of wily was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near wily

Cite this Entry

“Wily.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wily. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

wily

adjective
wilier; wiliest
: full of deceit : tricky
a wily opponent
wiliness noun

More from Merriam-Webster on wily

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