variants
also slily
as in cunningly
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Recent Examples of slyly
His halftime show exemplified this fearless approach; to layer genuine education upon mass spectacle, and to slyly rail against injustice with humor and joy.
—
Andrew R. Chow, Time, 9 Feb. 2026
And then, slyly, Tennyson does just that.
—Kathryn Schulz, New Yorker, 9 Feb. 2026
Ripley, however, had slyly made the tag as Morgan hit the move, entered the ring and demolished Morgan with Riptide.
—Blake Oestriecher, Forbes.com, 25 Jan. 2026
Rustin has slyly given her script a focus on women’s needs and feelings, a welcome departure for a genre that usually is more concerned about the men’s predicaments.
—Matthew J. Palm, The Orlando Sentinel, 18 Jan. 2026
West—a 12-year-old, mind you—has slyly defended her choice multiple times on TikTok and seems to remain completely unbothered by the backlash.
—Elizabeth Gulino, Allure, 14 Jan. 2026
The mother of Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes slyly wore one of the sweatshirts to the Chiefs-Lions game Sunday in a photo with daughter, Mia, and daughter-in-law Brittany Mahomes.
—Kansas City Star, 17 Oct. 2025
Its blend of casual weirdness and ineffable showmanship — watch Carson slyly turn discomfort into comedy — distills the essence of late night better than any marquee guest or recurring segment.
—Steven Zeitchik, HollywoodReporter, 7 Aug. 2025
Andrew R. Chow, Time, 9 Feb. 2026
And then, slyly, Tennyson does just that.
—Kathryn Schulz, New Yorker, 9 Feb. 2026
Ripley, however, had slyly made the tag as Morgan hit the move, entered the ring and demolished Morgan with Riptide.
—Blake Oestriecher, Forbes.com, 25 Jan. 2026
Rustin has slyly given her script a focus on women’s needs and feelings, a welcome departure for a genre that usually is more concerned about the men’s predicaments.
—Matthew J. Palm, The Orlando Sentinel, 18 Jan. 2026
West—a 12-year-old, mind you—has slyly defended her choice multiple times on TikTok and seems to remain completely unbothered by the backlash.
—Elizabeth Gulino, Allure, 14 Jan. 2026
The mother of Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes slyly wore one of the sweatshirts to the Chiefs-Lions game Sunday in a photo with daughter, Mia, and daughter-in-law Brittany Mahomes.
—Kansas City Star, 17 Oct. 2025
Its blend of casual weirdness and ineffable showmanship — watch Carson slyly turn discomfort into comedy — distills the essence of late night better than any marquee guest or recurring segment.
—Steven Zeitchik, HollywoodReporter, 7 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for slyly
Adverb
-
The Chinese delayed their retaliation for a while and then, very cunningly, took disproportionate revenge on Canada, recognizing Canada as the weaker link, who got less from the tariffs and were more exposed.—
David Frum,
The Atlantic,
4 Feb. 2026
-
Instead of kings and queens cunningly maneuvering their armies against their enemies, there’s only an ox of a man and a bald little boy, neither of whom exhibits a clearly superior intellect.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
13 Jan. 2026
Adverb
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Some players struggled against the size of bigger and stronger players, while others craftily created space with deft footwork and manipulation.—
Devin Robertson,
MSNBC Newsweek,
27 Aug. 2025
Adverb
-
Unlike Monday's burial for Princess Irene, which follows a Saturday prayer service in Madrid and a funeral Monday at Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens, the Tatoi interment for Sofia's mother, Queen Federica of Greece, was not official, and took place almost furtively.—
Diego Parrado,
Vanity Fair,
18 Jan. 2026
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This has become the central theme of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City—probably the most chaotic show in its franchise—whose characters are always trying to root out which of their frenemies is furtively digging up dirt and spreading rumors about their legal or financial woes.—
Judy Berman,
Time,
5 Nov. 2025
Adverb
-
The show, which followed a crooked New Mexican lawyer, played by Bob Odenkirk, was an archly funny drama, shot partly in gritty black-and-white.—
Rachel Syme,
New Yorker,
29 Sep. 2025
-
Much as Wes Anderson and Yorgos Lanthimos have plumbed Dafoe’s deliciously wicked sense of humor in pieces that straddle the line between the real and the archly stylized, Solnicki understands that a strong Dafoe performance must always teeter between the two.—
Manuel Betancourt,
Variety,
28 Sep. 2025
Adverb
-
The threats to our waters are insidiously obscured from sight.—
Theodore J. Karamanski,
Chicago Tribune,
6 Feb. 2026
-
The experiment is that AI is being made available nationally and globally, which is either overtly or insidiously acting to provide mental health guidance of one kind or another.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
30 Jan. 2026
Adverb
-
Senate Republicans are sharply divided over how to pursue the SAVE America Act voter ID and citizenship bill.—
Burgess Everett,
semafor.com,
26 Feb. 2026
-
How other states handle requests While the language of Florida’s Uniform Trade Secrets Act is similar to that found in many states, its approach to protecting insurers’ rights to shield claim documents differs sharply.—
Ron Hurtibise,
Sun Sentinel,
26 Feb. 2026
Adverb
-
Each villa also offers Pacific Ocean views, a private infinity-edge pool (artfully positioned into the hillside while also attached to the home), a large terrace, and a kitchen stocked with KitchenAid appliances.—
Erika Owen,
Architectural Digest,
24 Feb. 2026
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Not Carolyn artfully dodging the drug allegations!—
Emma Specter,
Vogue,
19 Feb. 2026
Adverb
-
Out with the clunky old 20th-century contractors making fighter jets, say Democrats and Republicans alike — and in with the venture-backed, slickly marketed, innovative new companies selling the silent drones, surveillance software, and cheap missiles of 21st-century combat.—
Ben Smith,
semafor.com,
3 Nov. 2025
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Earlier this year, Tiffany Stratton, not very slickly, mentioned Charlotte Flair's three divorces during a promo ahead of WrestleMania 41.—
Ryan Morik,
FOXNews.com,
5 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Slyly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/slyly. Accessed 5 Mar. 2026.
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