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On the sly

 - 6 dictionary results

sly

  [slahy] adjective, sly⋅er or sli⋅er, sly⋅est or sli⋅est, noun
Use On the sly in a Sentence
–adjective
1. cunning or wily: sly as a fox.
2. stealthy, insidious, or secret.
3. playfully artful, mischievous, or roguish: sly humor.
—Idiom
4. on the sly, secretly; furtively: a tryst on the sly.
Origin:
1150–1200; ME sly, sley < ON slœgr sly, cunning

Related forms:
slyly, slily, adverb
slyness, noun

Synonyms:
1. artful, subtle, foxy, crafty, shrewd, astute. 2. surreptitious, furtive, underhand, clandestine.

Antonyms:
1. direct, obvious.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To On the sly
sly   (slī)   
adj.   sli·er (slī'ər) also sly·er, sli·est (slī'ěst) also sly·est

  1. Clever or cunning, especially in the practice of deceit.

  2. Stealthy or surreptitious: took a sly look at the letter on the table.

  3. Playfully mischievous: a sly laugh.


[Middle English sleigh, from Old Norse slɶgr.]
sly'ly adv., sly'ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
on the sly

  1. mod.
    secretly and deceptively. : She was stealing little bits of money on the sly.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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sly

  1. mod.
    excellent; cool. : That is really a sly jacket you got there.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

sly 
c.1200, from O.N. sloegr "cunning, crafty, sly," from P.Gmc. *slogis (cf. Low Ger. slu "cunning, sly"), probably from base *slog- "hit" (see slay), with an original notion of "able to hit." Cf. Ger. verschlagen "cunning, crafty, sly," schlagfertig "quick-witted," lit. "ready to strike," from schlagen "to strike." A non-pejorative use of the word lingered in northern Eng. dialect until 20c. On the sly "in secret" is recorded from 1812. Sly-boots "a seeming Silly, but subtil Fellow" is in the 1700 "Dictionary of the Canting Crew."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Idioms & Phrases

on the sly

Furtively, secretly, as in She's always eating cookies on the sly. The adjective sly, which means "cunning" or "crafty," is here used as a noun. [c. 1800]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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