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| Main Entry: | |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | clever, scheming |
| Synonyms: | adroit, artful, astute, cagey, calculating, canny, crazy like fox, cunning, deceitful, deep, designing, devious, disingenuous, duplicitous, foxy*, fraudulent, guileful, insidious, intelligent, keen, knowing, sharp, shrewd, slick, slippery*, sly, smart, smooth, street smart, streetwise, subtle, tricky, vulpine, wily |
| Antonyms: | honest, naive, unclever |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | wily |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | crafty, clever |
| Synonyms: | arch, artful, astute, cagey, crazy like a fox, crooked, cunning, deceitful, deceptive, deep, designing, foxy, greasy, guileful, insidious, intriguing, knowing, sagacious, scheming, sharp, shifty, shrewd, slick*, slippery*, sly, smooth, sneaky, streetwise, tricky, underhanded |
* = informal/non-formal usage
Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition
Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.
Cite This Source
Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition
Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.
Cite This Source
| Concept: | Cunning. |
| Category: | 2. Complex voluntary action |
| Synonyms: |
-nouns
cunning, craft; cunningness, craftiness; subtlety, artificiality; maneuvering; temporization; circumvention., chicane, chicanery; sharp practice, knavery, jugglery; concealment; guile, doubling, duplicity (falsehood); foul play., diplomacy, politics; Machiavelism; jobbery, backstairs influence., art, artifice; device, machination; plot (plan); maneuver, stratagem, dodge, artful dodge, wile; trick, trickery (deception); ruse, ruse de guerre; finesse, side blow, thin end of the wedge, shift, go by, subterfuge, evasion; white lie (untruth); juggle, tour de force; tricks of the trade, tricks upon travelers; espieglerie; net, trap., Ulysses, Machiavel, sly boots, sly dog, fox, reynard; dodger, Artful Dodger [Dickens], smooth operator, sweet talker; Yankee; intriguer, intrigant; spin doctor, schemer [more].
-verbs
be cunning; have cut one's eyeteeth; contrive (plan); live by one's wits; maneuver; intrigue, gerrymander, finesse, double, temporize, stoop to conquer, reculer pour mieux sauter, circumvent, steal a march upon; overreach; throw off one's guard; surprise; snatch a verdict; waylay, undermine, introduce the thin end of the wedge; play a deep game, play tricks with; ambiguas in vulgum spargere voces; flatter, make things pleasant; have an ax to grind.
-adjectives
cunning, crafty, artful; skillful; subtle, feline, vulpine; cunning as a fox, cunning as a serpent; deep, deep laid; profound; designing, contriving; intriguing; strategic, diplomatic, politic, Machiavelian, timeserving; artificial; tricky, tricksy; wily, sly, slim, insidious, stealthy; underhand (hidden); subdolous; deceitful; crooked; arch, pawky, shrewd, acute; sharp, sharp as a needle; canny, astute, leery, knowing, up to snuff, too clever by half, not to be caught with chaff.
-adverbs
cunningly; slily, on the sly, by a side wind.
-phrases
diamond cut diamond; a' bis ou a blanc; fin contre fin; "something is rotten in the state of Denmark" [Hamlet].
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| Antonyms: | artlessness |
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