different between sly vs sneaking

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

Verb

sneaking

1. present participle of sneak

Noun

sneaking (plural sneakings)

1. The act of one who sneaks.
   • 1915, Charmian London, The Log of the Snark (page 108)

     Then there was much mirth and banter over the swift sneakings for home of certain men carrying large portions of puarka.

Adjective

sneaking (comparative more sneaking, superlative most sneaking)

1. Secret or underhand; not openly avowed.