Meanings
comparative more craftily · superlative most craftily
- In a crafty manner; slyly.
But the most bizarre twist of events was yet to come. That afternoon, Labour tabled a craftily worded motion. It would have guaranteed parliamentary time for a bill to ban fracking.
2023 September 1, Aubrey Allegretti, “‘She’s totally lost it’: Inside story of the unravelling of Liz Truss’s premiership”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC1 more example
[H]e [Thomas Arundell] by his euill counſaile and prodigious ſuggeſtions, craftilye circumuented the king, inducyng him to graunt his letters of pardon to a great traytour the Erle of Arondell his brother [Richard Fitzalan, 4th Earl of Arundel].
1569, Richard Grafton, “Richarde the Seconde”, in A Chronicle at Large and Meere History of the Affayres of Englande […], volume II, London: […] Henry Denham, […], for Richarde Tottle and Humffrey Toye, →OCLC, page 390
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Old Englishcræftiġlīċe“craftily, skillfully”
- Middle Englishcraftyly
- Englishcraftily
From Middle English craftyly, craftily, craftiliche, from Old English cræftiġlīċe (“craftily, skillfully”), equivalent to crafty + -ly.
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Latin vafrē
- vafrēin a crafty manner
Spanish astutamente
- astutamentein a crafty manner
Cite this entry
craftily. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/craftily
“craftily.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/craftily. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “craftily,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/craftily.
Source: craftily on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.