# sly

> English word · Adjective · IPA /slaɪ/ · frequency rank #17,246

## Definitions
1. Artfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily.
2. Dexterous in performing an action, so as to escape notice
3. Done with, and marked by, artful and dexterous secrecy; subtle
4. Light or delicate; slight; thin.

## Etymology
From Middle English sly, sley, sleigh, sleiȝ, from Old Norse slǿgr (“sly, cunning”, literally “capable of hitting or striking”), from Proto-Germanic *slōgiz (“lively, agile, cunning, sly, striking”), from Proto-Indo-European *slak- (“to hit, throw”).
Cognate with Icelandic slægur (“crafty, sly”), Norwegian Nynorsk sløg (“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”). Doublet of sleight and slöjd

## Easily confused with
- **so** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sly-vs-so)
- **SS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sly-vs-ss)
- **SP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sly-vs-sp)
- **su** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sly-vs-su)
- **SM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sly-vs-sm)
- **SW** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sly-vs-sw)
- **SV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sly-vs-sv)
- **Sy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sly-vs-sy)
- **son** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sly-vs-son)
- **sun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sly-vs-sun)
- **sub** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sly-vs-sub)
- **sum** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sly-vs-sum)
- **spy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sly-vs-spy)
- **sue** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sly-vs-sue)
- **spa** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sly-vs-spa)
- **sox** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sly-vs-sox)
- **sol** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sly-vs-sol)
- **SMS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sly-vs-sms)
- **soy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sly-vs-soy)
- **SNP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sly-vs-snp)

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