as in artfully
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Recent Examples of cannily
So begins a cycle of financial pressure, entrepreneurial hurdles, and major crimes committed out of desperation that cannily blurs the line between legitimate business strategy and the art of the con.
—
Judy Berman, Time, 11 Mar. 2026
His presence is so recessive that the resulting footage, however cannily composed, looks, for the most part, like it was made by an unattended surveillance camera.
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 19 Feb. 2026
The special’s opening half-hour is a series of meaningful opening salvos like this, cannily shoehorned into catch-up anecdotes, each of them laying the groundwork for where Nanjiani ultimately wants the hour to land without tipping his hand in one direction or another.
—Kathryn Vanarendonk, Vulture, 19 Dec. 2025
Although that self-realization is timeless, Roder cannily positions it to speak to contemporary times.
—Stephen Saito, Variety, 23 Nov. 2025
Rental Family cannily exploits its unusual premise to both comical and moving effect.
—Frank Scheck, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Judy Berman, Time, 11 Mar. 2026
His presence is so recessive that the resulting footage, however cannily composed, looks, for the most part, like it was made by an unattended surveillance camera.
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 19 Feb. 2026
The special’s opening half-hour is a series of meaningful opening salvos like this, cannily shoehorned into catch-up anecdotes, each of them laying the groundwork for where Nanjiani ultimately wants the hour to land without tipping his hand in one direction or another.
—Kathryn Vanarendonk, Vulture, 19 Dec. 2025
Although that self-realization is timeless, Roder cannily positions it to speak to contemporary times.
—Stephen Saito, Variety, 23 Nov. 2025
Rental Family cannily exploits its unusual premise to both comical and moving effect.
—Frank Scheck, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cannily
Adverb
-
It had been artfully arranged, staged in a marble vase.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
14 Apr. 2026
-
Customers can also get a closer look at the espresso bar as baristas artfully whip up everything from a caramel macchiato to a cocoa cappuccino, with unobstructed views and new lighting above the pickup area.—
Robert Channick,
Chicago Tribune,
9 Apr. 2026
Adverb
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Jones has falsely claimed the 2012 elementary school shooting, in which 20 students and six adults were killed, was a hoax.—
Rob Wile,
NBC news,
20 Apr. 2026
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Bank records obtained by CBS 12, through a subpoena, show that Kaiser was allegedly captured on surveillance footage at a JPMorgan Chase branch handing a check falsely attributed to the museum to a teller and then completing the transaction with her debit card.—
Tessa Solomon,
ARTnews.com,
20 Apr. 2026
Adverb
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Rife with cartoonish action and bright colors and perhaps, most importantly, a shirtless Noah Centineo, the first look at Kitao Sakurai’s Street Fighter film is almost deceptively promising.—
Fran Hoepfner,
Vulture,
16 Apr. 2026
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Hers is a dark, dark mind that weaves deceptively simple tales into terrifying psychological page turners like The Housemaid.—
E.L. James,
Time,
15 Apr. 2026
Adverb
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Additional uses of geolocation data, the providers say, include proving a bettor is dishonestly disputing credit card charges, revealing sign-up bonus abuse or showing that someone is illegally making proxy wagers across state lines.—
Dan Bernstein,
Sportico.com,
16 Oct. 2025
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As naive as that may sound in a world where so many self-evident rights and wrongs are being routinely, dishonestly evaluated and reevaluated, the series elevates simple truths in ways that are downright inspirational.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
4 Aug. 2025
Adverb
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Jacob goes to Isaac with this hairy disguise, deceitfully announces himself as Esau, and obtains his father’s blessing—much to the chagrin of his brother.—
Charles Preston,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
13 Mar. 2026
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To help fill their coffers even more, the lobbyists deceitfully expanded the definition of those notch years to include everyone born through 1926.—
Tom Margenau,
Dallas Morning News,
1 Feb. 2026
Adverb
-
Raphael could certainly extract feeling from the architecture of a body and the distribution of its weight, but the majority of his faces, even the most artificially expressive ones, are unburdened by anything like a psychology.—
Zachary Fine,
New Yorker,
20 Apr. 2026
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The housing laws that the General Assembly passed over the last couple of years created pressure and artificially accelerated a process that takes time and public input, Bommer said.—
John Aguilar,
Denver Post,
19 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Cannily.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cannily. Accessed 22 Apr. 2026.
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