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Webster 1913 Edition

Sly

Sly

,
Adj.
[
Com
par.
Slier
or
Slyer
;
sup
erl.
Sliest
or
Slyest
.]
[OE.
sli
,
slegh
,
sleih
, Icel.
sl[GREEK]gr
, for
sl[GREEK]gr
; akin to Sw.
slug
, Dan.
slu
, LG.
slou
, G.
schlau
; probably to E.
slay
, v.t.; cf. G. ver
schlagen
sly. See
Slay
,
Verb.
T.
, and cf.
Sleight
.]
1.
Dexterous in performing an action, so as to escape notice; nimble; skillful; cautious; shrewd; knowing; – in a good sense.
Be ye
sly
as serpents, and simple as doves.
Wyclif (Matt. x. 16).
Whom graver age
And long experience hath made wise and
sly
.
Fairfax.
2.
Artfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily.
For my
sly
wiles and subtle craftiness,
The litle of the kingdom I possess.
Spenser.
3.
Done with, and marked by, artful and dexterous secrecy; subtle;
as, a
sly
trick
.
Envy works in a
sly
and imperceptible manner.
I. Watts.
4.
Light or delicate; slight; thin.
[Obs.]
By the sly
, or
On the sly
,
in a sly or secret manner.
[Colloq.]
“Gazed on Hetty’s charms by the sly.”
G. Eliot.
–
Sly goose
(Zool.)
,
the common sheldrake; – so named from its craftiness.
Syn. – Cunning; crafty; subtile; wily. See
Cunning
.

Sly

,
adv.
Slyly.
[Obs. or Poetic]
Spenser.

Webster 1828 Edition

Sly

SLY

, a.
1.
Artfully dextrous in performing things secretly, and escaping observation or detection; usually implying some degree of meanness; artfully cunning; applied to persons; as a sly man or boy.
2.
Done with artful and dextrous secrecy; as a sly trick.
3.
Marked with artful secrecy; as sly circumspection.
4.
Secret; concealed. Envy works in a sly imperceptible manner.

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