List of 426 Sets of Synonyms - How they Differ - Total of 2307 Words - 365

SYNONYMS: sly, cunning, tricky, crafty, wily, foxy, artful, guileful.
These adjectives mean disposed to or marked by indirection or deviousness in the gaining of an end.

Sly usually implies surreptitiousness, secretiveness, and lack of candor: You think he's open and blunt---he's as sly as a mink.
Cunning stresses cleverness and ingenuity, often at the expense of moral principles: Cunning men pass for wise.
Tricky emphasizes shiftiness, deception, and absence of scruples: Under the faҫade of morality and patriotism can be perceived the false and tricky political opportunist that he is.
Crafty suggests mastery of devious and underhanded methods or schemes: Crafty plotters make the best intelligence agents.
Wily suggests subterfuge or stratagem intended to entrap: Her father was a wily old attorney.
Foxy implies cunning and craft and usually long experience in the use of trickery: He was much too foxy to let slip even a hint of his working-class background.
Artful emphasizes adroitness in maneuvering to accomplish a purpose: She won the case by her artful manipulation of the jury's emotions.
Guileful suggests an insidious, often treacherous nature: He was a guileful tournament organizer.