Related Searches
on Ask.com
Synonyms
Nearby Entries
sly - 6 dictionary results
sly
[slahy] 
adjective, sly⋅er or sli⋅er, sly⋅est or sli⋅est, noun –adjective
—Idiom| 1. | cunning or wily: sly as a fox. |
| 2. | stealthy, insidious, or secret. |
| 3. | playfully artful, mischievous, or roguish: sly humor. |
| 4. | on the sly, secretly; furtively: a tryst on the sly. |
Origin:
1150–1200; ME sly, sley < ON slœgr sly, cunning
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.
1. artful, subtle, foxy, crafty, shrewd, astute. 2. surreptitious, furtive, underhand, clandestine.
Antonyms:
1. direct, obvious.
1. direct, obvious.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source
|
Link To sly
| sly (slī) adj. sli·er (slī'ər) also sly·er, sli·est (slī'ěst) also sly·est
[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.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Sly
Sly\, a. [Compar. Slieror Slyer; superl. Sliest or Slyest.] [OE. sli, slegh, sleih, Icel sl?gr, for sl?gr; akin to Sw. slug, Dan. slu, LG. slou, G. schlau; probably to E. slay, v.t.; cf. G. verschlagen sly. See Slay, v. t., and cf. Sleight.]1. Dexterous in performing an action, so as to escape notice; nimble; skillful; cautious; shrewd; knowing; -- in a good sense. Be ye sly as serpents, and simple as doves. --Wyclif (Matt. x. 16). Whom graver age And long experience hath made wise and sly. --Fairfax. 2. Artfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily. For my sly wiles and subtle craftiness, The litle of the kingdom I possess. --Spenser. 3. Done with, and marked by, artful and dexterous secrecy; subtle; as, a sly trick. Envy works in a sly and imperceptible manner. --I. Watts. 4. Light or delicate; slight; thin. [Obs.] By the sly, or On the sly, in a sly or secret manner. [Colloq.] "Gazed on Hetty's charms by the sly." --G. Eliot. Sly goose (Zo["o]l.), the common sheldrake; -- so named from its craftiness. Syn: Cunning; crafty; subtile; wily. See Cunning.Sly
Sly\, adv. Slyly. [Obs. or Poetic] --Spenser.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
Language Translation for : sly
Spanish:
astuto, tramposo, malicioso,
German:
schlau,
Japanese:
ずるい
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
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
sly
see on the sly.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2009, Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
