# wile vs wily

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### wile
*noun · IPA /waɪl/ · frequency rank #46,267*
A trick or stratagem practiced for ensnaring or deception; a sly, insidious artifice

### wily
*adjective · IPA /ˈwaɪ.li/ · frequency rank #37,287*
Sly, cunning, full of tricks.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wile-vs-wily