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pawky

adjective

Definition of pawkynext
chiefly British
as in cunning

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for pawky
  1. cunning
  2. sly
  3. wily
  4. subtle
  5. shrewd
  6. guileful
  7. astute
  8. artful
Adjective
  • Magpies are opportunistic scavengers, incredibly cunning and deceitful and capable of calculated deception.
    — Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 28 Sep. 2026
  • Last week, Alan Cumming’s cunning competition empire The Traitors unsheathed its most diabolical twist yet.
    — Rebecca Alter, Vulture, 24 Sep. 2026
Definition of cunning
Adjective
  • Whether these stories are fictional or heightened for comic effect is irrelevant; Simmons-Patterson’s conversational delivery and sly smile are so magnetic that audiences want to spend time in his universe either way.
    — Kathryn VanArendonk, Vulture, 21 Sep. 2026
  • Asked if Cole would be guaranteed a start in the Wild Card round, the likeliest scenario for the Yankees, the manager replied with a sly smile on Friday.
    — Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 19 Sep. 2026
Definition of sly
Adjective
  • The movie was initially teased with a wily fake relationship.
    — Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 23 Sep. 2026
  • The Italian champions’ addition of Three Lions — England internationals John Stones, Curtis Jones and Djed Spence — is aimed at bringing more dynamism to a wily group who have reached two Champions League finals in four years.
    — James Horncastle, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of wily
Adjective
  • In Lepecki’s account, the gesture again demonstrated that stillness in dance always vibrates with subtle motion.
    — Sophie Landres, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2026
  • Against a backdrop of wilting flowers that left a subtle funk in the air, designer Glenn Martens once again put forth ideas that challenged conventions of beautiful clothing.
    — Leah Dolan, CNN Money, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of subtle
Adjective
  • With the blessing of the shrewd but motherly Headmistress Francis (Heather Alicia Simms), Paulina has decided to compete in the Miss Ghana 1986 pageant, hoping to reach the Miss Universe competition.
    — Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 29 Sep. 2026
  • The potentially shrewd long game for the Dolphins would be drafting Smith - the top prospect seemingly with the lowest floor and highest ceiling - and then wait until 2028 for a quarterback.
    — Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 27 Sep. 2026
Definition of shrewd
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
Definition of guileful
Adjective
  • One of the grid’s most astute late-nineteenth-century critics, the geologist John Wesley Powell, decried its environmental recklessness.
    — Daniel Immerwahr, New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2026
  • As some astute readers have pointed out, Gen has piled up a lot of dirty laundry this season.
    — Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 22 Sep. 2026
Definition of astute
Adjective
  • Laika is best known for its artful stop-motion animation films like Coraline, but has been pushing into the live-action space, building out a slate of features that include Lulu Wang‘s Audition, starring Lucy Liu and Charles Melton.
    — Mia Galuppo, HollywoodReporter, 24 Sep. 2026
  • Both Farrelly and Antoine Fuqua, the director of the latter film, are making something more broad than artful.
    — Marcus Jones, IndieWire, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of artful
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

pawing
pawky
pawn
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Cite this Entry

“Pawky.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pawky. Accessed 1 Oct. 2026.

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