Meanings
sly1
adjectivesly (comparative slier or slyer, superlative sliest or slyest)
comparative slier · comparative slyer · superlative sliest · superlative slyest · alternative obsolete sligh
- Artfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily.
Sly2
proper noun
- A diminutive of the male given name Sylvester.
- A surname
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveDexterous in performing an action, so as to escape notice.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivemarked by skill in deception
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*slak-“to hit, throw”
- Proto-Germanic*slōgiz“lively, agile, cunning, sly, striking”
- Old Norseslǿgr“sly, cunning”
- Middle Englishsly
- Englishsly
From Middle English sly, sley, sleigh, sleiȝ, from Old Norse slǿgr (“sly, cunning”, literally “capable of hitting or striking”), from Proto-Germanic *slōgiz (“lively, agile, cunning, sly, striking”), from Proto-Indo-European *slak- (“to hit, throw”). Cognate with Icelandic slægur (“crafty, sly”), Norwegian Nynorsk sløg (“sly”). Related to sleight, slay. In all likelihood, however, unrelated with Saterland Frisian slau (“sly, crafty”), Dutch sluw (“sly, cunning”), Low German slu (“sly, cunning”), German schlau (“clever, crafty”). Doublet of sleight and slöjd
More words from Middle English, Old Norse, Proto-Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek κίδαφος, πανοῦργος
- κίδαφος (kídaphos)artfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
- πανοῦργος (panoûrgos)artfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
Arabic خَبِيث, مَاكِر
- خَبِيث (ḵabīṯ)artfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
- مَاكِر (mākir)artfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
Basque azeri
- azeriartfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
Bulgarian лука́в, хи́тър
- лука́в (lukáv)artfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
- хи́тър (hítăr)artfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
- кова́рен (kováren)artfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
- потаен (potaen)dexterous in performing an action, so as to escape notice; nimble
- изкусен (izkusen)done with, and marked by, artful and dexterous secrecy
Catalan astut, murri
- astutartfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
- murriartfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
Chinese Mandarin 狡猾, 鬼黠
- 狡猾 (jiǎohuá)artfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
- 鬼黠 (guǐxiá)artfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
- 狡黠 (jiǎoxiá)artfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
Czech prohnaný, lstivý
- prohnanýartfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
- lstivýartfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
Dutch sluw
- sluwartfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
Esperanto ruza
- ruzaartfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
Finnish viekas, ovela
- viekasartfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
- oveladexterous in performing an action, so as to escape notice; nimble
- oveladone with, and marked by, artful and dexterous secrecy
French sournois, malin
- sournoisartfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
- malinartfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
- ruséartfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
- matoisartfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
- espiègledexterous in performing an action, so as to escape notice; nimble
German schlau, gerissen
- schlauartfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
- gerissenartfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
- listigartfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
- verschmitztartfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
Hungarian ravasz
- ravaszartfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
Irish bradach, glic
- bradachartfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
- glicdexterous in performing an action, so as to escape notice; nimble
Italian furbo, sornione
- furboartfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
- sornioneartfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
- sornionedexterous in performing an action, so as to escape notice; nimble
- subdolodexterous in performing an action, so as to escape notice; nimble
- furtivodone with, and marked by, artful and dexterous secrecy
Japanese 狡い, 狡猾な
- 狡い (zurui)artfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
- 狡猾な (kōkatsu na)artfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
Korean 교활하다
- 교활하다 (gyohwalhada)artfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
Latin vafer, versūtus
- vaferartfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
- versūtusartfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
- callidusartfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
Māori mūrere, tītipa
- mūrereartfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
- tītipaartfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
Norwegian slu, sleip
- sluartfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
- sleipartfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
- sludexterous in performing an action, so as to escape notice; nimble
- sludone with, and marked by, artful and dexterous secrecy
- listigdone with, and marked by, artful and dexterous secrecy
Polish chytry, cwany
- chytryartfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
- cwanyartfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
Portuguese esperto, astuto
- espertoartfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
- astutoartfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
- manhosoartfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
Romanian viclean
- vicleanartfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
Russian хи́трый, кова́рный
- хи́трый (xítryj)artfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
- кова́рный (kovárnyj)artfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
- лука́вый (lukávyj)artfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
- ло́вкий (lóvkij)dexterous in performing an action, so as to escape notice; nimble
- иску́сный (iskúsnyj)done with, and marked by, artful and dexterous secrecy
Slovak ľstivý, prešibaný
- ľstivýartfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
- prešibanýartfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
- chytrýdexterous in performing an action, so as to escape notice; nimble
- prešibanýdexterous in performing an action, so as to escape notice; nimble
Spanish astuto, pillo
- astutoartfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
- pilloartfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
- listoartfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
- habilidosodexterous in performing an action, so as to escape notice; nimble
Swedish slug
- slugartfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
Turkish kurnaz
- kurnazartfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
Ukrainian хи́трий, лука́вий
- хи́трий (xýtryj)artfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
- лука́вий (lukávyj)artfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
Yiddish כיטרע
- כיטרע (khitre)artfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with sly
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
sly. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sly
MLA
“sly.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sly. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sly,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sly.
Source: sly on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.