Thesaurus

tricky

adjective

Synonyms and Antonyms of tricky

1 requiring exceptional skill or caution in performance or handling

a tricky musical passage for the woodwind section

Synonyms of tricky

catchy, delicate, difficult, dodgy [chiefly British], hairy, knotty, nasty, prickly, problematic (also problematical), sensitive, spiny, sticky, thorny, ticklish, touchy, tough, tricksy

Words Related to tricky

abstract, abstruse, complex, complicated, hard, intricate, involved, recondite, serious

problem, scabrous, stubborn, troublesome, troublous, vexatious, vexing, worrisome

burdensome, demanding, discommoding, exacting, exhausting, importunate, inconvenient, onerous, oppressive, painful, stressful

Near Antonyms of tricky

easy, effortless, manageable, painless, simple, straightforward, uncomplicated, undemanding, unproblematic

2 clever at attaining one's ends by indirect and often deceptive means

he's a tricky one, so be careful when dealing with him

Synonyms of tricky

artful, beguiling, cagey (also cagy), crafty, cunning, cute, designing, devious, dodgy [chiefly British], foxy, guileful, scheming, shrewd, slick, sly, subtle, wily

Words Related to tricky

astute, facile, glib, sharp

crooked, deceitful, deceptive, dishonest, fraudulent, insinuating, knavish, Machiavellian, oblique, serpentine, shady, shifty, slippery, sneaky, treacherous, underhand, underhanded, unscrupulous

backhanded, double-dealing, hypocritical, insincere, left-handed, mealy, mealymouthed, smooth-tongued, two-faced

circuitous, circular, roundabout

clandestine, concealed, covert, furtive, hugger-mugger, secret, stealthy, surreptitious, undercover

calculating, plotting

Near Antonyms of tricky

obvious, open, patent, plain, public, unconcealed

aboveboard, candid, direct, forthright, frank, honest, natural, outspoken, plainspoken, real, simple, sincere, straightforward, unaffected, unpretending, unpretentious, unvarnished

childlike, impressionable, simpleminded, unsophisticated, unworldly

unforced, unstudied

trustful, trusting

Antonyms of tricky

artless, guileless, ingenuous, innocent, undesigning

Synonym Discussion of tricky

sly, cunning, crafty, wily, tricky, foxy, artful, slick mean attaining or seeking to attain one's ends by guileful or devious means. sly implies furtiveness, lack of candor, and skill in concealing one's aims and methods.

- a sly corporate raider

cunning suggests the inventive use of sometimes limited intelligence in overreaching or circumventing.

- the cunning fox avoided the trap

crafty implies cleverness and subtlety of method.

- a crafty lefthander

wily implies skill and deception in maneuvering.

- the wily fugitive escaped the posse

tricky is more likely to suggest shiftiness and unreliability than skill in deception and maneuvering.

- a tricky political operative

foxy implies a shrewd and wary craftiness usually involving devious dealing.

- a foxy publicity man planting stories

artful implies indirectness in dealing and often connotes sophistication or cleverness.

- elicited the information by artful questioning

slick emphasizes smoothness and guile.

- slick operators selling time-sharing

Learn More about tricky

See words that rhyme with tricky Dictionary: Definition of tricky Spanish Central: Translation of tricky Nglish: Translation of tricky for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of tricky for Arabic speakers

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