variants
also slily
as in cunningly
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Recent Examples of slyly
While noirs, of course, critique the crumbling American Dream, Rivera slyly comments on politics.
—
Sammy Loren, Los Angeles Times, 18 Mar. 2026
And Reilly is aces at playing aw-shucks-who-me innocence while Gary enjoys the best of both worlds, as his friend Eric slyly points out during a dinner party.
—Sheri Linden, HollywoodReporter, 16 Mar. 2026
Cast against type, Stamos has fun slyly underplaying a thoroughly depraved character.
—Dennis Harvey, Variety, 14 Mar. 2026
The actor Marisa Abela plays her in a binary state of panic and swagger by sobbing like a dejected child or slyly grinning like one who’s about to wolf down an ice-cream cake.
—Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 2 Mar. 2026
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
Sammy Loren, Los Angeles Times, 18 Mar. 2026
And Reilly is aces at playing aw-shucks-who-me innocence while Gary enjoys the best of both worlds, as his friend Eric slyly points out during a dinner party.
—Sheri Linden, HollywoodReporter, 16 Mar. 2026
Cast against type, Stamos has fun slyly underplaying a thoroughly depraved character.
—Dennis Harvey, Variety, 14 Mar. 2026
The actor Marisa Abela plays her in a binary state of panic and swagger by sobbing like a dejected child or slyly grinning like one who’s about to wolf down an ice-cream cake.
—Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 2 Mar. 2026
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
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
-
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
-
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
-
Often nearly invisible to the naked eye, microplastics have insidiously found their way into people’s lungs, arterial plaques and brains through food, air and water, researchers have found.—
Kate Nishimura,
Footwear News,
7 Apr. 2026
-
His dramas set domestic conflicts against the backdrop of societal systems that insidiously warp the playing field for their characters.—
Theater Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
1 Apr. 2026
Adverb
-
Fidesz, whose popularity dropped sharply in the aftermath of the passage of the new constitution, was reëlected with parliamentary super-majorities in the next two elections, in 2014 and 2018, despite receiving less than fifty per cent of the vote.—
Kapil Komireddi,
New Yorker,
10 Apr. 2026
-
The culprit is volatile oil and jet fuel prices, which have spiked sharply since the war in the Middle East began and fighting near the narrow Strait of Hormuz created a chokepoint for global oil supplies.—
Rio Yamat,
Chicago Tribune,
9 Apr. 2026
Adverb
-
Customers can also get a closer look at the espresso bar as baristas artfully whip up everything from a caramel macchiato to a cocoa cappuccino, with unobstructed views and new lighting above the pickup area.—
Robert Channick,
Chicago Tribune,
9 Apr. 2026
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The town’s specialty is a cream cake called kremna rezina, with layers of cream and vanilla custard artfully sandwiched between sheets of delicate, crispy crust.—
Tribune Content Agency,
Baltimore Sun,
8 Apr. 2026
Adverb
-
Reaching the island is all part of the fun too, requiring you to hop aboard a vintage, slickly varnished wooden boat at Balmaha and schedule a pick-up time for the way back.—
Rosie Conroy,
Condé Nast Traveler,
31 Mar. 2026
-
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
Cite this Entry
“Slyly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/slyly. Accessed 14 Apr. 2026.
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