Definitions and meaning of sly
sly
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
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”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /slaɪ/
-
- Rhymes: -aɪ
Adjective
sly (comparative slier or slyer, superlative sliest or slyest)
- Artfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily.
- (having a positive connotation) Dexterous in performing an action, so as to escape notice
- Synonyms: nimble, skillful, cautious, shrewd
- Done with, and marked by, artful and dexterous secrecy; subtle
- Light or delicate; slight; thin.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations
Further reading
- “sly”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “sly”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
Adverb
sly
- Slyly.
Anagrams
- YLS, YLs, lys, YSL, Lys, syl-
Lower Sorbian
Adjective
sly
- obsolete spelling of zły (“bad, evil”)
Middle English
Alternative forms
- scle, scley, scliȝ, slegh, sleȝ, slei, sleigh, sleiȝ, sleiȝh, sley, sleygh, sleyh, sligh, sliȝ, slih, slygh, slyȝ, slyȝh, slyh
Etymology
Borrowed from Old Norse slǿgr, from Proto-Germanic *slōgiz.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /sliː(x)/, /sleː(x)/, /slix/
Adjective
sly (plural and weak singular slye, comparative slyer, superlative sliest)
- Judicious, considered, shrewd; having or indicative of great wisdom.
- Adept, expert, quality; having or indicative of great expertise.
- Sly, artful, wily; employing or being an example of deception.
- (rare) Attractive; having good looks.
- (rare) Unknown or hidden.
Related terms
- sleighly
- sleighte
- slynesse
Descendants
References
- “sleigh, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-06-05.
Swedish
Etymology
Unknown origin. From a dialectal word meaning "wetland with small forest". First attested in 1752.
Noun
sly n
- An (instance or collection of) young broad-leaved trees or saplings (in particular while growing densely, sometimes in a weed-like fashion). (Is there an English equivalent to this definition?)
Usage notes
- Should not be confused with:
- ris (“brushwood”) which can be severed sly in a bundle.
- snår (“thicket; underbrush”) which are formed by a collection of sly and other vegetation.
- While there is no defined size, sly tends to be about 1–3 meters tall and about as thick as a human finger.
Declension
Holonyms
- ris (“shrubs; brushwood”)
- snår (“thicket; underbrush”)
Derived terms
References
- sly in Svensk ordbok (SO)
- sly in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
- sly in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)
Anagrams
Source: wiktionary.org