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

Filming Viral Invasions The wily tricks viruses use to infect human cells and reproduce are also under investigation. —Katarina Zimmer, JSTOR Daily, 14 Aug. 2025

The summer soundtrack of our backyard is dominated by the awful, frantic scratching of squirrel claws against fence boards as the wily rodents scramble their way into my fig tree and onto my naughty list. —Josh Miller, Southern Living, 3 Aug. 2025

Both teams are tactically astute, wily and boast individual quality. —Megan Feringa, New York Times, 27 July 2025

Yulia is right to worry: Early in Season 3, after defying another of Yulia’s commands, the wily, magnetic Tamar wins over a key character who initially intends to do her harm. —Michael M. Rosen, The Washington Examiner, 25 July 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