pawky

Definition of pawkynext
chiefly British

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for pawky
Adjective
  • Consider, for instance, the institution of oprichnina that Tsar Ivan IV established in 1565, through various cunning moves.
    Foreign Affairs, Foreign Affairs, 18 Aug. 2026
  • With the correct number of dots, no arrangement, however cunning, can dodge these shapes forever.
    Jack Murtagh, Scientific American, 10 Aug. 2026
Adjective
  • This argument made by the unknown soldier—which included a sly criticism of the USSR—affected how the war-crazy Zinn was starting to reassess the entire operation.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 12 Aug. 2026
  • The men exude contentious authority in various ways, from the grandee’s circumspect command and Uncle Jeb’s sly omniscience to the mechanic’s viperish resentment and Billy’s acerbic flirtation.
    Richard Brody, New Yorker, 11 Aug. 2026
Adjective
  • Maye took the snap and gave it away again, set up by some wily safety play.
    Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 6 Aug. 2026
  • A couple of hours later, Learner Tien lost to wily French veteran Adrian Mannarino.
    Matthew Futterman, New York Times, 1 Aug. 2026
Adjective
  • Clinicians found real value in cases involving subtle fractures in the knees, feet and other extremities, where conventional X-ray findings were inconclusive or missed the fracture altogether.
    Erez Meltzer, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2026
  • Then there are the subtle vanilla notes like those found in Orb Oils’s Lenny fragrance, matcha in Le Labo’s, or, say, Flamingo Estate’s Prinsesstårta roll-on captures notes of marzipan like a slice of Sant Ambroeus Princess cake.
    Arden Fanning Andrews, Vogue, 21 Aug. 2026
Adjective
  • After experimenting with several positions, Valenzuela eventually found a perfect place at left tackle for the Bulldogs and developed a shrewd sense of how much depended on that.
    Steve Millar, Chicago Tribune, 19 Aug. 2026
  • Former player and shrewd executive Jerry West helped build the Lakers’ rosters, Pat Riley blossomed into an elite coach, and stars Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar led a collection of elite playmakers during the Showtime era.
    Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 19 Aug. 2026
Adjective
  • Bruno Guimaraes and Lucas Paqueta played guileful defence-splitting passes.
    James Horncastle, New York Times, 20 June 2026
  • One is to emphasize Iago—the guileful, insinuating convincingness of this malicious supervillain, who works on Othello to the point where any reasonable man would be deceived and fooled and worked into a rage that can lead to such a catastrophe.
    David Frum, The Atlantic, 17 June 2026
Adjective
  • There is too much going on here for this novel to work, but Andersen is an uncommon writer, a skilled historical novelist as well as an astute cultural observer and historical interpreter.
    John Warner, Chicago Tribune, 15 Aug. 2026
  • Brown is clearly an empath who can read people in an astute way.
    Anne Thompson, IndieWire, 13 Aug. 2026
Adjective
  • Of the millions of men and women who have made their mark here, few were as prolific and artful as Edgar Miller, even though most of you have never heard of him.
    Rick Kogan, Chicago Tribune, 19 Aug. 2026
  • Within it there are offices, factories, warehouses, photography studios, design departments, ateliers, a logistics center, showrooms complete with artful storefronts—all designed to fulfill desires at lightning speed.
    Gaby Wood, Vogue, 17 Aug. 2026
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Pawky.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pawky. Accessed 22 Aug. 2026.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster