# sly vs so

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

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

### so
*conjunction · IPA /səʊ/ · frequency rank #33*
Reduced form of 'so that', used to express purpose; in order that.

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