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

The high stakes and the frenzied crowds annually inspire hockey players who can handle them to ever-higher levels of grit, guile and greatness. — ABC News, 7 May 2026

The label cut its teeth with 12 inches and compilations but The Black Dog produced [one] album of breath-taking technical guile. — Liza Lentini, SPIN, 1 May 2026

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