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wile

noun

Synonyms and Antonyms of wile

1 a clever often underhanded means to achieve an end

  • had to use all of her wiles to convince her guests to stay for dinner
Synonyms of wile

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

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 wile

sleight of hand

2 the use of clever underhanded actions to achieve an end

  • it took both wile and cajolery to talk him into it
Synonyms of wile

artifice, chicane, chicanery, gamesmanship, hanky-panky, jiggery-pokery, jugglery, legerdemain, skulduggery (or skullduggery), subterfuge, trickery
Words Related to wile

artfulness, caginess (also cageyness), craftiness, cunning, deviousness, foxiness, oiliness, shadiness, sharpness, shiftiness, shrewdness, slickness, slipperiness, slyness, sneakiness, treachery, underhandedness, wiliness

crookedness, crookery, cunning, deceit, deceitfulness, deception, deceptiveness, dishonesty, dissimulation, double-dealing, dupery, duplicity, guile, guilefulness, hypocrisy, insincerity

fakery, humbuggery, imposture, quackery

dirty pool, dirty tricks

design, plotting, scheming, secrecy, stealth
Near Antonyms of wile

artlessness, forthrightness, guilelessness, ingenuousness, sincerity

candidness, candor, directness, openness, plainness, plainspokenness

Synonym Discussion of wile

trick, ruse, stratagem, maneuver, artifice, wile, feint mean an indirect means to gain an end. trick may imply deception, roguishness, illusion, and either an evil or harmless end.
    • the tricks of the trade
ruse stresses an attempt to mislead by a false impression.
    • the ruses of smugglers
stratagem implies a ruse used to entrap, outwit, circumvent, or surprise an opponent or enemy.
    • the stratagem-filled game
maneuver suggests adroit and skillful avoidance of difficulty.
    • last-minute maneuvers to avert bankruptcy
artifice implies ingenious contrivance or invention.
    • the clever artifices of the stage
wile suggests an attempt to entrap or deceive with false allurements.
    • used all of his wiles to ingratiate himself
feint implies a diversion or distraction of attention away from one's real intent.
    • a feint toward the enemy's left flank

wile

verb

Synonyms and Antonyms of wile

to attract or delight as if by magic

  • her stories of the Old South could wile anyone
Synonyms of wile

allure, beguile, bewitch, captivate, charm, enchant, fascinate, kill, magnetize, witch [archaic]
Words Related to wile

disarm, draw, entice, lure, pull, seduce, tempt

delight, gratify, please

arrest, enrapture, enthrall (or enthral), entrance

appeal (to), interest, intrigue

beckon, court, invite, solicit, woo
Near Antonyms of wile

disgust, offend, repel, revolt

annoy, displease, irk

bore, tire, weary

Learn More about wile

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

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