From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
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.
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Be ye sly as serpents, and simple as doves. --Wyclif
(Matt. x. 16).
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Whom graver age
And long experience hath made wise and sly.
--Fairfax.
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2. Artfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily.
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For my sly wiles and subtle craftiness,
The litle of the kingdom I possess. --Spenser.
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3. Done with, and marked by, artful and dexterous secrecy;
subtle; as, a sly trick.
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Envy works in a sly and imperceptible manner. --I.
Watts.
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4. Light or delicate; slight; thin. [Obs.]
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{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} (Zool.), the common sheldrake; -- so named from
its craftiness.
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Syn: Cunning; crafty; subtile; wily. See {Cunning}.
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From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
on the sly
adv 1: in a furtive manner; "the soldiers were furtively
crawling through the night" [syn: {furtively}, {on the
sly}]
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