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sly

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sly

  [slahy] adjective, sly⋅er or sli⋅er, sly⋅est or sli⋅est, noun
Use 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.
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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
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.
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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

sly

see on the sly.

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