Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
Menu
dictionary thesaurus

Thesaurus

sleight

noun

Synonyms and Antonyms of sleight

1 a clever often underhanded means to achieve an end
  • must have employed some sophisticated sleight to con that wary couple out of their money
Synonyms of sleight

artifice, device, dodge, fetch, flimflam, gambit, gimmick, jig, juggle, knack, play, ploy, ruse, scheme, shenanigan, stratagem, trick, wile
Words Related to sleight

bluff, end run, feint

cheating, chicanery, cozenage, craft, crookery, cunning, deception, dupery, duplicity, fakery, jugglery, legerdemain, skulduggery (or skullduggery), subterfuge, swindling, trickery

fraud, gaff, hoax, sham, swindle

blind, front, smoke screen
Phrases Synonymous with sleight

sleight of hand
2 mental skill or quickness
  • a brilliant new theory that pays tribute to his remarkable sleight of mind
Synonyms of sleight

adroitness, cleverness, dexterity, finesse
Words Related to sleight

ability, aptitude, capability, capacity, faculty, knack, prowess, talent

competence, competency, efficiency, expertise, know-how, proficiency

ingeniousness, ingenuity, resourcefulness

savvy, sharpness, shrewdness

artfulness, artifice, caginess (also cageyness), canniness, craft, craftiness, cunning, cunningness, deviousness, foxiness, guile, slickness, slyness, sneakiness, subtleness, wiliness
Near Antonyms of sleight

inadequacy, incompetence, incompetency, ineptitude, ineptness

brainlessness, denseness, density, doltishness, dopiness, dullness (also dulness), dumbness, fatuity, foolishness, mindlessness, obtuseness, senselessness, simpleness, slowness, stupidity, stupidness, witlessness
3 ease and grace in physical activity
  • a muscle-bound weight lifter known more for his might than his sleight
Synonyms of sleight

agility, deftness, dexterity, nimbleness, spryness
Words Related to sleight

coordination

flexibility, gracefulness, limberness, litheness, loose-jointedness, suppleness

handiness, sure-handedness

sure-footedness

adeptness, adroitness, finesse, prowess
Near Antonyms of sleight

disability, inability, incapability, incapacity

debilitation, disablement, impairment, incapacitation

unhandiness
Antonyms of sleight

awkwardness, clumsiness, gaucheness, gawkiness, gawkishness, gracelessness, ham-handedness, heavy-handedness, klutziness, ungainliness

Learn More about sleight

  1. See words that rhyme with sleight Dictionary: Definition of sleight Nglish: Translation of sleight for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of sleight for Arabic speakers

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up sleight? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show comments hide comments

Love words? Need even more definitions?

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

WORD OF THE DAY

parabolic

Listen to the pronounciation of parabolic

of or relating to a parable or parabola

Get Word of the Day daily email!

TRENDING NOW

  1. crawdad New novel makes waves

  2. non sequitur, sequitur Manafort judge addresses defense

  3. trope AOC tweets against border wall

SEE ALL

Love words? Need even more definitions?

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

Words at Play

Ask the Editors

Word Games