sly
Contents
EnglishEdit
Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for sly in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.)
Alternative formsEdit
- sligh (obsolete)
EtymologyEdit
From Middle English sly, sley, from Old Norse slǣgr, slœgr (“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”), Saterland Frisian slau (“sly, crafty”), Dutch sluw (“sly, cunning”), Low German slu (“sly, cunning”), German schlau (“clever, crafty”). Related to sleight, slay.
PronunciationEdit
AdjectiveEdit
sly (comparative slier or slyer, superlative sliest or slyest)
- Artfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily.
- (having a positive sense) Dexterous in performing an action, so as to escape notice; nimble; skillful; cautious; shrewd; knowing
- Done with, and marked by, artful and dexterous secrecy; subtle
-
a sly trick
-
- Light or delicate; slight; thin.
SynonymsEdit
- See also Wikisaurus:wily
Derived termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Further readingEdit
- sly in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- sly in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
AdverbEdit
sly