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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

  1. 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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