Question 1 · Quick check
wily
CEFRC2
/ˈwaɪ.li/
adjective
Türkçe translations
Translating…
In plain English
- 01
adjective
Clever at getting what you want through indirect or dishonest methods.
- 02
adjective
Extra detailSly, cunning, full of tricks.
Examples
He plays a wily detective with a penchant for disguises.
I know him, a wily, cheeky lad.
At a glance
Sits at C2 on the CEFR scale
- Senses
- 2
- Parts of speech
- 1
- Citations
- 1
- Synonyms
- 5
Deep Dive
More examples
In contextTom is a very wily person.
Horatio's new girlfriend is a wily coquette, and poor Horatio is too smitten to see it.
Of all the medical monsters Peter Hotez could have set out to slay, the Yale University researcher could not have chosen a more wily and obscure villain than the hookworm.
Related
Quick test
Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.
Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.
Nearby
Origin
adjective
From Middle English wily, wiley, wyly. By surface analysis, wil(e) + -y.