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Sly

//slaɪ// adj, adv, name

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Artfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily.
  2. 2
    Dexterous in performing an action, so as to escape notice
  3. 3
    Done with, and marked by, artful and dexterous secrecy; subtle

    "a sly trick"

  4. 4
    Light or delicate; slight; thin.
Adjective
  1. 1
    marked by skill in deception wordnet
Adverb
  1. 1
    Slyly.
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A diminutive of the male given name Sylvester.
  2. 2
    A surname

Etymology

Etymology 1

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

Etymology 2

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

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