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slyestmore about slyest

slyest

 

  1  definition  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Sly  \Sly\,  a.  [Compar.  {Slier}or  {Slyer};  superl.  {Sliest}  or 
  {Slyest}.]  [OE.  sli,  slegh,  sleih,  Icel  sl?gr,  for  sl?gr; 
  akin  to  Sw  slug,  Dan.  slu,  LG  slou,  G.  schlau  probably  to 
  E.  slay,  v.t.;  cf  G.  verschlagen  sly.  See  {Slay},  v.  t.,  and 
  cf  {Sleight}.] 
  1.  Dexterous  in  performing  an  action  so  as  to  escape  notice; 
  nimble;  skillful;  cautious;  shrewd;  knowing;  --  in  a  good 
  sense 
 
  Be  ye  sly  as  serpents,  and  simple  as  doves.  --Wyclif 
  (Matt.  x.  16). 
 
  Whom  graver  age  And  long  experience  hath  made  wise 
  and  sly.  --Fairfax. 
 
  2.  Artfully  cunning;  secretly  mischievous;  wily. 
 
  For  my  sly  wiles  and  subtle  craftiness,  The  litle  of 
  the  kingdom  I  possess.  --Spenser. 
 
  3.  Done  with  and  marked  by  artful  and  dexterous  secrecy; 
  subtle;  as  a  sly  trick. 
 
  Envy  works  in  a  sly  and  imperceptible  manner.  --I. 
  Watts. 
 
  4.  Light  or  delicate;  slight;  thin.  [Obs.] 
 
  {By  the  sly},  or  {On  the  sly},  in  a  sly  or  secret  manner. 
  [Colloq.]  ``Gazed  on  Hetty's  charms  by  the  sly.''  --G. 
  Eliot. 
 
  {Sly  goose}  (Zo["o]l.),  the  common  sheldrake;  --  so  named 
  from  its  craftiness. 
 
  Syn:  Cunning;  crafty;  subtile;  wily.  See  {Cunning}.




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