as in cunning
clever at attaining one's ends by indirect and often deceptive means
a wily judge of character, she takes advantage of car buyers' insecurities to sell them a bigger machine than they really need
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Recent Examples of wily
Henriette protects Antonin by being wily enough to successfully keep their relationship a secret from Fouché for a few episodes.
—
Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 11 June 2025
Sporting a bushy salt-and-pepper beard and a world-weary look in his eyes, Pearce finds dimensions both tragic and devious in what could have been merely the stock character of the wily long-term inmate whose isolation has cost him his humanity.
—David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 10 June 2025
From Congress to prison Weiner, a brash and ambitious politician whose New York accent and wily, kinetic style made for solid theater on the House floor, was once someone worth watching in the Democratic Party.
—Anthony Izaguirre, Los Angeles Times, 9 June 2025
There was no quintessential American, so Twain imagined him: a wily rube, cynical toward the same refinements of Europe that inspired awe in him.
—Caity Weaver, The Atlantic, 5 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for wily
Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 11 June 2025
Sporting a bushy salt-and-pepper beard and a world-weary look in his eyes, Pearce finds dimensions both tragic and devious in what could have been merely the stock character of the wily long-term inmate whose isolation has cost him his humanity.
—David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 10 June 2025
From Congress to prison Weiner, a brash and ambitious politician whose New York accent and wily, kinetic style made for solid theater on the House floor, was once someone worth watching in the Democratic Party.
—Anthony Izaguirre, Los Angeles Times, 9 June 2025
There was no quintessential American, so Twain imagined him: a wily rube, cynical toward the same refinements of Europe that inspired awe in him.
—Caity Weaver, The Atlantic, 5 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for wily
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wily
Adjective
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The Residence starred Uzo Aduba as quirky detective Cordelia Cupp, who uses her cunning intellect and obsessive bird-watching abilities to crack otherwise unsolvable cases.—
Andy Swift,
TVLine,
2 July 2025
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As for steps that could be taken in the nineteenth century, Lyell managed to invent a cunning way to determine the relative age of geological strata.—
Lewis Hyde,
Harpers Magazine,
18 June 2025
Adjective
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Oh, and the best pairs of the bunch are also plain old comfy (and cute, in a gorpcore kind of way).—
Sara Coughlin,
SELF,
7 July 2025
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July 6, 2025: Rodman watching Shelton’s match at Wimbledon is so cute the ESPN announcer literally giggles trying to talk about them.—
Elizabeth Logan,
Glamour,
7 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Wily.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wily. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.
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