# silly vs sly

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### silly
*adjective · IPA /ˈsɪl.i/ · frequency rank #3,727*
Laughable or amusing through foolishness or a foolish appearance.

### sly
*adjective · IPA /slaɪ/ · frequency rank #17,246*
Artfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-09-03.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/silly-vs-sly