Synonyms of guile

guile

noun

ˈgī(-ə)l 

1

as in cunning

skill in achieving one's ends through indirect, subtle, or underhanded means

a shady salesman who usually relies on a combination of quick thinking and guile

Synonyms & Similar Words

• cunning
• subtlety
• slyness
• deviousness
• artfulness
• craftiness
• wiliness
• sneakiness
• canniness
• cunningness
• slickness
• subtleness
• craft
• ease
• artifice
• caginess
• shrewdness
• calculation
• cleverness
• inventiveness
• ingenuity
• finesse
• foxiness
• savvy
• design
• care
• guilefulness
• duplicity
• ingeniousness
• shiftiness
• sharpness
• underhandedness
• deceitfulness
• facility

2

as in deception

the inclination or practice of misleading others through lies or trickery

a person so full of guile he can't even be trusted to give you the correct time of day

Synonyms & Similar Words

• deception
• deceit
• cunning
• deceptiveness
• deceitfulness
• fraud
• cheating
• duplicity
• lying
• wiliness
• craftiness
• dissimulation
• cunningness
• double-dealing
• crookedness
• dishonesty
• fakery
• dissembling
• secrecy
• cozenage
• crookery
• trickery
• craft
• dupery
• artifice
• subterfuge
• prevarication
• shrewdness
• foxiness
• artfulness
• chicanery
• mendacity
• fraudulence
• skulduggery
• guilefulness
• deviousness
• obliquity
• equivocation
• legerdemain
• hypocrisy
• jugglery
• insincerity
• swindling
• slyness
• wile
• underhandedness
• sneakiness
• fib
• chicane
• sanctimoniousness
• shiftiness
• hanky-panky
• unscrupulousness
• untruth
• caginess
• covertness
• falsehood
• furtiveness
• smoothness
• stealthiness
• slickness
• mountebankery
• slipperiness
• shadiness
• falsity
• two-facedness
• treacherousness
• oiliness

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• sincerity
• good faith
• ingenuousness
• forthrightness
• directness
• frankness
• artlessness
• candor
• openness
• guilelessness
• plainness
• honesty
• reliability
• probity
• solidity
• integrity
• dependability
• goodness
• candidness
• trustworthiness
• decency
• righteousness
• truthfulness
• uprightness
• plainspokenness
• incorruptibility
• reliableness
• virtuousness
• trustiness
• trustability

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of guile

In other districts, however, the wealthy pastoralists managed by guile and financial manipulation to evade the land acts, and very many of them acquired freeholds to large estates at low prices, especially in the fertile Western District. — Britannica Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica, 19 Mar. 2026

Matching Casey and Frank’s guile is Philomac’s untested self-confidence. — Ritesh Mehta, IndieWire, 20 Feb. 2026

While the Heat have a variety of youthful options in their backcourt hierarchy ahead of Young, from the defensive guile of Davion Mitchell, to the youthful creativity of Kasparas Jakucionis, to the veteran steadiness of Dru Smith, Young is the type of speed guard rarely featured by the franchise. — Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 17 Feb. 2026

What was once done by indirection and guile is now carried with the high hand, in the face of day, at the mouth of the cannon and by the edge of the sabre of the nation. — Jake Lundberg, The Atlantic, 12 Feb. 2026