crafty

adjective

ˈkraf-tē 

craftier; craftiest

1

: skillful, clever

2

a

: adept in the use of subtlety and cunning

a crafty swindler

The crafty detective got the suspect to confess to the crime.

b

: marked by subtlety and guile

a crafty scheme

craftily

ˈkraf-tə-lē 

adverb

craftiness

ˈkraf-tē-nəs 

noun

Synonyms of crafty

• cunning
• cute
• slick

Choose the Right Synonym for crafty

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 crafty in a Sentence

a crafty real estate broker who got people to sell their property at bargain prices

Recent Examples on the Web

For a crafty afternoon, use wire cutters to cut metal hangers into smaller pieces and bend them into small shepherd’s hook shapes to decorate as plant markers. —Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 22 Feb. 2026

Drake Powell provided one of the early highlights with five quick points off the bench, first burying a smooth step-back 3-pointer from the right wing, then following it with a crafty drive and physical finish moments later. —C.j. Holmes, New York Daily News, 22 Feb. 2026

The budget on the gowns and sets must have been prodigious, or the below-the-line folks were just crafty, because this is a visually ravishing movie. —Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 18 Feb. 2026

Yet the images and videos put a heightened focus on the house’s accessories, including sculptural S-heel mules evolving the emblematic F-heel of the archives; stiletto sandals incorporating the signature Vara shoe bow or new, crafty iterations of the Hug bag. —Sandra Salibian, Footwear News, 16 Feb. 2026

Word History

Etymology

see craft entry 1

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing crafty

• arty-crafty

Rhymes for crafty

• drafty

Kids Definition

crafty

adjective

ˈkraf-tē 

craftier; craftiest

: skillful at deceiving others

craftily

-tə-lē 

adverb

craftiness

-tē-nəs 

noun