Thesaurus
sly
adjective
Synonyms and Antonyms of SLY
1
clever at attaining one's ends by indirect and often deceptive means <the movie pairs a sly, dissembling ex-con with an upstanding, straight-arrow cop>
Synonyms beguiling, cagey (also cagy), crafty, cunning, cute, designing, devious, dodgy [chiefly British], foxy, guileful, scheming, shrewd, slick, sly, subtle, tricky, wily
Related Words astute, facile, glib, sharp; crooked, deceitful, deceptive, dishonest, fraudulent, insinuating, knavish, Machiavellian, oblique, serpentine, shady, shifty, slippery, sneaky, treacherous, underhand, underhanded, unscrupulous; backhanded, double-dealing, hypocritical, insincere, left-handed, mealy, mealymouthed, smooth-tongued, two-faced; circuitous, circular, roundabout; clandestine, concealed, covert, furtive, hugger-mugger, secret, stealthy, surreptitious, undercover; calculating, plotting
Near Antonyms obvious, open, patent, plain, public, unconcealed; aboveboard, candid, direct, forthright, frank, honest, natural, outspoken, plainspoken, real, simple, sincere, straightforward, unaffected, unpretending, unpretentious, unvarnished; childlike, impressionable, simpleminded, unsophisticated, unworldly; unforced, unstudied; trustful, trusting
2
given to acting in secret and to concealing one's intentions <why, you sly fellow! I had no idea you were planning my birthday party>
Related Words artful, crafty, cunning, devious, foxy, guileful, slick, wily; close, closemouthed, reticent, secretive; clandestine, covert, dark; deceitful, deceiving, deceptive, devious, duplicitous, trickish, tricky, underhand, underhanded; cheating, crooked, defrauding, dishonest, dissembling, double-dealing, knavish, two-faced; lying, mendacious, untrustworthy, untruthful; insidious, perfidious, serpentine, treacherous
Near Antonyms aboveboard, forthright, plainspoken, straightforward; candid, direct, foursquare, frank, open, plain; honest, trustworthy, truthful
3
tending to or exhibiting reckless playfulness <a sly sense of humor>
Synonyms arch, devilish, elvish, espiègle, impish, knavish, leprechaunish, pixie (also pixy), pixieish, prankish, puckish, rascally, roguish, scampish, sly, tricksy, waggish, wicked
Seen & Heard
What made you want to look up sly? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).