Synonyms for sly

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1. Crafty

   wily, tricky, foxy, shifty, insidious, artful, shrewd, designing, deceitful, guileful, scheming, deceiving, captious, intriguing, cunning, unscrupulous, deceptive, conniving, calculating, plotting, elusive, delusive, illusory, bluffing, dissembling, dishonest, mealy-mouthed, treacherous, underhanded, sneaking, double-dealing, faithless, traitorous, sharp, smart, ingenious, cagey, canny, dishonorable, crooked*, mean*, dirty*, ratty*, double-crossing*, slick*, smooth*, slippery*, shady*.

   Antonyms honest*, fair, just.

2. Shrewd

   clever, sharp, astute; see intelligent 1.

3. Secretive

   furtive, evasive, stealthy; see secret 3, secretive.

sly implies a working to achieve one's ends by evasiveness, insinuation, furtiveness, duplicity, etc. a sly bargain; cunning implies a cleverness or shrewd skillfulness at deception and circumvention a cunning plot; crafty implies an artful cunning in contriving stratagems and subtle deceptions a crafty diplomat; tricky suggests a shifty, unreliable quality rather than cleverness at deception tricky subterfuges; foxy suggests slyness and craftiness that have been sharpened by experience a foxy old trader; wily implies the deceiving or ensnarement of others by subtle stratagems and ruses wily blandishments