wily

adjective

ˈwī-lē 

wilier; wiliest

: full of wiles : crafty

a wily negotiator

wilily

ˈwī-lə-lē 

adverb

wiliness

ˈwī-lē-nəs 

noun

Synonyms

• cunning
• cute

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

The second season, which debuted in 2022, starred Glenn Close as a wily longtime Mossad asset named Marjan working inside the Iranian capital. —Steven Zeitchik, HollywoodReporter, 8 July 2025

Things can be heightened about combative and wily AGIs by including the aspect of national borders and global geopolitics into the mix. —Lance Eliot, Forbes, 21 Mar. 2025

Then a giant sunflower will blossom into my email directory, thanks to a wily plant nursery eager for a sale. —Danny Heitman, Christian Science Monitor, 17 June 2025

Still, there’s a lot of wily, seasoned talent in that squad, including Sergio Ramos, Óliver Torres and Lucas Ocampos, who know a thing or two about the big stage. —Brett Koremenos, New York Times, 13 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for wily

• dryly
• highly
• kiley
• shyly
• slyly
• smiley
• wryly

Kids Definition

wily

adjective

ˈwī-lē 

wilier; wiliest

: full of deceit : tricky

a wily opponent

wiliness noun