sly
English
/slaɪ/
adj
Definitions
- Artfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily.
- (having a positive sense) Dexterous in performing an action, so as to escape notice
- Done with, and marked by, artful and dexterous secrecy; subtle
- Light or delicate; slight; thin.
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English sly derived from Old Norse slægr derived from Proto-Germanic *slōgiz (sly, able to strike, cunning, agile, striking, clever, lively) derived from Proto-Indo-European *slak- (throw, hit, strike).
Origin
Proto-Indo-European
*slak-
Gloss
throw, hit, strike
Concept
Semantic Field
Motion
Ontological Category
Action/Process
Emoji
Timeline
Distribution of cognates by language
Geogrpahic distribution of cognates
Cognates and derived terms
- boots English
- sleight English
- sleightful English
- sleightly English
- sleighty English
- sliness English
- slyboots English
- slyish English
- slyly English
- slyness English
- slöjd English
- unsly English
- Schlauberger German
- Schlaukopf German
- Schlaumeier German
- schlau German
- schlauerweise German
- sluw Dutch, Flemish
- sluwheid Dutch, Flemish
- *slak- Proto-Indo-European
- *slahaną Proto-Germanic
- *slahtrą Proto-Germanic
- *slōgiz Proto-Germanic
- slöjd Swedish
- sløg Norwegian Nynorsk
- sløgd Norwegian Nynorsk
- sleighly Middle English
- sleight Middle English
- sly Middle English
- slynesse Middle English
- unsly Middle English
- slægr Old Norse
- slœgr Old Norse
- slægur Icelandic
- slei Welsh
- slu Afrikaans
- slû Middle Low German
- slu Low German