different between sly vs shady

English

Alternative forms

• sligh (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English sly, sley, sleigh, slei?, from Old Norse slægr, slœgr (“sly, cunning”, literally “capable of hitting or striking”), from Proto-Germanic *sl?giz (“lively, agile, cunning, sly, striking”), from Proto-Indo-European *slak- (“to hit, throw”). Cognate with Icelandic slægur (“crafty, sly”), Norwegian Nynorsk sløg (“sly”), Swedish slug (“sly”). Related to sleight, slay. In all likelihood, however, unrelated with Saterland Frisian slau (“sly, crafty”), Dutch sluw (“sly, cunning”), Low German slu (“sly, cunning”), German schlau (“clever, crafty”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sla?/
• Rhymes: -a?

Adjective

sly (comparative slier or slyer, superlative sliest or slyest)

1. Artfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily.
2. (having a positive sense) Dexterous in performing an action, so as to escape notice

   Synonyms: nimble, skillful, cautious, shrewd

3. Done with, and marked by, artful and dexterous secrecy; subtle

4. Light or delicate; slight; thin.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:wily

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

• sly in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• sly in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Adverb

sly

1. Slyly.

Anagrams

• Lys, YLS, YLs, lys, syl-

Lower Sorbian

Adjective

sly

1. Obsolete spelling of z?y (“bad, evil”)

Middle English

Alternative forms

• scle, slei, sley, scley, slegh, sleigh, sleygh, sligh, slygh, sle?, slei?, slei?h, sli?, sly?, scli?, sly?h, sleyh, slih, slyh

Etymology

From Old Norse slœgr, from Proto-Germanic *sl?giz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sli?/, /sl?i?/, /slix/, /sl?i?x/

Adjective

sly (plural and weak singular slye, comparative slyer, superlative sliest)

1. Judicious, considered, shrewd; having or indicative of great wisdom.
2. Adept, expert, quality; having or indicative of great expertise.
3. Sly, artful, wily; employing or being an example of deception.
4. (rare) Attractive; having good looks.
5. (rare) Unknown or hidden.

Related terms

• sleighly
• sleight
• slynesse

Descendants

• English: sly
• Scots: slee

References

• “sleigh, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-06-05.

Swedish

Noun

sly n

1. very young trees, in particular while growing very densely

Declension

Anagrams

• lys, syl, yls

English

Etymology

From shade +? -y. Compare Saterland Frisian skaadich, skaddich (“shady”), German schattig (“shady”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??e?di/
• Rhymes: -e?di

Adjective

shady (comparative shadier, superlative shadiest)

1. Abounding in shades.
2. Causing shade.

   • The shady trees cover him with their shadow.

3. Overspread with shade; sheltered from the glare of light or sultry heat.
   • 1625, Francis Bacon, Of Building

     you may have rooms both for summer and winter; shady for summer, and warm for winter

4. (informal) Not trustworthy; disreputable.

   He is a shady character.

   • 2009: Stuart Heritage, Hecklerspray, Friday the 22^nd of May in 2009 at 1 o’clock p.m., “Jon & Kate Latest: People You Don’t Know Do Crap You Don’t Care About”

     Jon & Kate Plus 8 is a show based on two facts: 1) Jon and Kate Gosselin have eight children, and 2) the word ‘Kate’ rhymes with the word ‘eight’. One suspects that if Kate were ever to have another child, a shady network executive would urge her to put it in a binbag with a brick and drop it down a well. But this is just a horrifying tangent.

5. (Britain, slang) Mean, cruel.

   Don't be shady, give us a go.

Synonyms

• (not trustworthy): corrupt, dodgy, dubious, equivocal, seedy, sketchy, suspicious

Translations

Anagrams

• dashy