▪ I. sly, a., adv., and n.
(slaɪ)
Forms: α. 3 sleh, 4 sleȝ, sleeȝ, 4–5 sleȝe, slegh(e, 5 scleȝ, sclegh; 3–4 sleyh, 4 sleih; 3 sleiȝh, 3–4 sleiȝe, 4 sleeiȝ, 5 scleyȝ; 4 sleigh(e, sleygh(e. β. 3–5 sley, 4–5 sleye, 5 scley; 4, Sc. 5–6 sle, 5, Sc. 7–9 slee. γ. 4 slyh(e, sliȝ, 4– 5 sliȝe, slyȝ(e, 4–5 slygh, 4–6 slyghe, 4–7 sligh. δ. 4–5 sli, 5 sclie, 5–8 slie; 4–7 slye, 4– sly.
[ME. slēȝ, ad. ON. slœ́g-r (Icel. slægur, Norw. sl{obar}g; MSw. slögh, older Da. sl{obar}ff) clever, cunning, originally ‘able to strike’, f. slóg- pret. stem of slá to strike. The later development into northern slee, midland and southern sligh, sly, is normal. The corresponding abstract noun is sleight n.1]
A. adj.
1. a. Of persons: Skilful, clever, dexterous, or expert in doing something; possessing practical skill or ability; skilled, knowing, wise. (Also occas. of animals.) Obs. exc. north. dial.
| α c 1200 Ormin 13498 Her wass wiss Filippe sleh & ȝæp & haȝherr hunnte. c 1275 Five Joys Virgin 32 in O.E. Misc. 88 Þer þe schulen engles grete, for þu ert boþe hende and sleyh. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 378 A carpenter..ich am, quoynte and sleiȝh. c 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 7570 Als clerkes says, þat er wise and sleghe. c 1350 Lybeaus Disc. 351 As a noble knyght, As werrour queynte and sclegh. c 1420 Liber Cocorum (1862) 19 Be sleȝe and powre in water þenne. |
| β a 1300 Havelok 1084 Hwere mithe i finden ani so hey So Hauelok is, or so sley? 1375 Barbour Bruce xvi. 335 He gert get vrichtis that ves sle. 14.. in Vicary's Anat. (1888) App. ix. 228 Apone the nose..Schall thowe lete blode, if thowe be sle. 1807 Stagg Misc. Poems (1808) 93 When Seymie..was as slee as onny Danniel. c 1859 T. Moore Song Sol. vii. 1 A slee warkman. |
| γ 13.. Sir Beues 579 Þe king him louede also is broþer, And þe maide, þat was so sliȝ. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 10 He is makir of my kynde, as a sliȝ werkman. a 1425 tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula, etc. 2 God..hath hid many thingis fro wise men and sliȝe whiche he vouchesaf aftirward for to shewe to symple men. c 1430 Syr Gener. (Roxb.) 5333 Generides was hardie and sligh, And saw hem flee, and drogh him nigh. |
| δ a 1300 Cursor M. 8695 Þe king, þat was sa sli a clerc. c 1320 Cast. Love (1849) 78 So slye and crafty they shull byn alle, That they shull do all thyng that in here hert doth falle. 1495 Trevisa's Barth. De P.R. xviii. liii. 812 Amptes ben full lytyll and ben neuerthelesse more slye [Bodl. MS. sliȝe] and besy than many grete beestys. 1600 Fairfax Tasso x. xli. 187 You..(whom grauer age And long experience hath made wise and slie). 1865 Danby Gloss. s.v., He war a desput sly chap wha fost thow't o' thae sun-pict'rs. |
† b. Const.
in or
of (also
at,
on) something.
Obs.| (a) a 1300 Cursor M. 27280 In spiring loke þe preist be sli, Noght ouerbald bot als on drei. c 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 2662 Þarfor þou man in þi werk be slyghe. c 1400 Rowland & O. 690 Þe gentill Grauntere In Batayle þat was so sleghe. 1513 Douglas æneid v. v. 76 Of Creit..born was sche, And in the craft of Mynerve wondir sle. |
| (b) a 1300 Cursor M. 7251 For he was sle on [Gött. sly of] harpingleu. 1375 Barbour Bruce xvii. 938 He send for masonis..That sleast wes of that misteir. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. xxiii. 163 This sleuthe was sleyh of werre and a slynge made. c 1470 Henry Wallace i. 375 Off that labour as than he was nocht sle. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems l. 30 Gy of Gysburne, na Allan Bell,..At schot war nevir so slie. |
† c. With infinitive.
Obs.| a 1300 Cursor M. 27290 Þat þe preist be slei To gar þe man him-seluen wrei. c 1400 Laud Troy Bk. 11112 He..asked hem..‘Whether thei were alle so sly To saue Ector with-oute poudre’. c 1450 Bk. Curtasye 300 in Babees Bk., With woso men..The falle to go, loke þou be slegh To aske his nome. 1513 Douglas æneid vi. xv. 2 The peple..Bene..moir sle To forge and carve lyflyk staturis of bras. |
† 2. Marked or characterized by skill or dexterity; showing skilfulness or ingenuity; cleverly or finely made.
Obs.| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 7187 Louerd he sede þat ech þing madest quointe & sley. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 2258 Atte laste he wolde fleye, Feþer-hames he made hym sleye. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xviii. i. (Bodl. MS.), Here [i.e. ants, bees, etc.] workes beþ sliȝe and sotel. c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. v. 154 Wher the swarmes dwelle, is craft tespie... Se heer the craft, and truly hit is sligh. c 1470 Gol. & Gaw. 883 Thai hynt of his harnese, to helyn his wound; Lechis war noght to lait, with sawis sa sle. 1513 Douglas æneid i. Prol. 108 Reid oftair than anis, Weill at ane blenk slee poetry nocht tane ys. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. ix. 46 Lids deuiz'd of substance sly, That readily they shut and open might. 1721 Ramsay Elegy on Patie Birnie i, In sonnet slee the man I sing. |
3. a. Of persons: Adept or skilful in artifice or craft; using cunning or insidious means or methods; deceitful, guileful, wily, underhand.
| α, β a 1200 St. Marher. 12 Þu hauest grimliche ibroht mi broðer to grunde, þen slehest deouel of helle. c 1275 Lay. 14366 Þe worse was þare wel neh, Þat to soche game his wel sleh. c 1375 Cursor M. 731 (Fairf.), Þat wyly deuel was ful sley. a 1450 Myrc 1401 Wayte þat þow be slegh & fel. c 1470 Henry Wallace v. 740 He was full sle, and ek had mony cast. 1535 W. Stewart Cron. Scot. I. 281 Ane subtill man and of ingyne richt hie, In all his tyme he wes baith fals and slie. 1724 Ramsay Tea-Table Misc. (1733) I. 85 Little did her auld minny ken What thir slee twa togither were say'n. 1825 Brockett N.C. Gloss., Slee, sly, cunning. |
| γ, δ c 1386 Chaucer Friar's T. 24 He hadde a Somonour redy to his hond, A slyer boye was noon in Engelond. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 235, Thei ben slyhe in such a wise That thei be sleihte..Of Fals witnesse bringen inne [etc.]. c 1420 Chron. Vilod. 381 Þus Danes weren fulle fals and slyȝe. c 1450 Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 230 The traytours wene they bene so sly, That no mane can hem aspy. 1530 Palsgr. 324/1 Slye, crafty, subtyll, cautelleux. Ibid., Slye, wylye, fyn. 1579 W. Wilkinson Confut. Fam. Love Ep. Ded. *ij b, The subtle assaultes of so slye and cruell enemyes. 1642 Rogers Naaman 16 A master having a slie servant, oft drunken and carelesse. 1676 Dryden Aurengz. i. i, Some slie Court-Devil has seduc'd your Mind. 1775 Sheridan Rivals ii. i, He was, indeed, a little inquisitive; but I was sly, sir; devilish sly! 1865 Sat. Rev. 11 Feb. 162/2 He is slyer, less easy to fix with the responsibility of his actions. 1874 Motley John of Barneveld I. ii. 131 Smoothest and sliest of diplomatists. |
b. Of animals, etc.
to run sly (see
quot. 1845).
| 1640 Sir W. Mure Wks. (S.T.S.) II. 6 This slie fox, hunted from hole to hole. 1667 Milton P.L. ix. 613 So talk'd the spirited sly Snake. 1756 tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) I. 119 Whatever might be his fidelity to the duke, he [a wolf] was very sly and malicious to others. 1776– [see sly-goose]. 1807 Crabbe Par. Reg. ii. 29 A sly old fish, too cunning for the hook. 1845 Youatt Dog ii. 38 The Scotch greyhound.., instead of depending on his speed alone,..has recourse to occasional artifices in order to intercept the hare, in sporting language, he runs sly. |
c. Of looks: Expressive of slyness.
| 1821 Scott Kenilw. xxxii, Varney has a sly countenance, and a smooth tongue. 1848 Dickens Dombey xiv, The grim sly faces in the squares and diamonds of the floor⁓cloth..peeped out at him with less wicked eyes. |
4. a. Of actions, things, etc.: Marked or characterized by, displaying or indicating, artifice, craft or cunning; of an insidious or wily nature.
| c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 321 Freris bildyng..is comuneliche makid bi slyh robbyngis of þe fend. c 1386 Chaucer Nun's Pr. T. 395 A colfox, ful of sly Iniquitee. c 1440 J. Capgrave Life St. Kath. iv. 808 Wherfore I thenke a slyere weye to renne, That hir purpos shal not thus encrees. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VI, 153 By this pratye cautele and slyghe imposture, was the towne..taken. a 1586 Sidney Ps. xxxv. iii, Let their sly witts unwares destruction gett. 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 98 Still disappointing all the slie designes of the Popes. 1671 Milton P.R. ii. 115 Satan with slye preface to return Had left him. a 1755 Watts (J.), Envy..works in a sly and imperceptible manner. 1781 Cowper Conversation 744 A mere mask of sly grimace. 1833 H. Martineau Berkeley i. iv. 78 The buyers and sellers will make any kind of sly and circuitous bargain. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xvii. IV. 69 The Celt found many opportunities of taking a sly revenge. |
† b. Of words, etc.: Full of duplicity or wile; subtle; disingenuous.
Obs.| 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VII. 371 Wily and sly silogismes. c 1400 Cursor M. 27998 (Cotton Galba), If þou euer..wowid hir with wordes sleghe. c 1440 Jacob's Well 150 Thruȝ slye woordys & fayre to make a man wene þat he hath vertu.. whan he hath non. 1567 Gude & Godlie Ball. 150 Tak gude keip To thame that cumis to the..With subtell Sermonis slie. 1675 Baxter Cath. Theol. ii. v. 88 A sly equivocation, turning the question from the potentia operata to the potentia operans. 1829 Lytton Devereux ii. v, He knows not what sly conclusions may be drawn from his premises. |
5. a. Marked or characterized by secrecy or stealth; working, moving, etc., in a stealthy or underhand manner. Also of places: Quiet, secret.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 472/1 Stalkynge, or soft and sly goynge, serptura. 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, i. iii. 150 The slye slow houres shall not determinate The datelesse limit of thy deere exile. 1608 Topsell Serpents (1658) 699 Slie poyson takes the marrow, and eating fire Burning the bowels warm till all consumed. 1641 Milton Ch. Govt. ii. iii, That severe assise of survaying and controuling the privatest and sliest manners of all men. a 1764 Lloyd Poet. Professors Poet. Wks. 1774 I. 35 At some sly corner in the Strand. 1766 Goldsm. Vic. W. vi, I therefore approached my chair by sly degrees to the fire. 1807 J. Barlow Columb. vii. 184 With..the sly watchword whisper'd from the tongue. 1821 Scott Kenilw. xix, Thou canst give a friend a sly place at a mask or a revel now. 1895 A. Forbes Mem. War & Peace 102 One of a ‘sly patrol’ which I was accompanying one July morning. |
b. slang. Illicit, illegal;
esp. Austral. in
sly grog (seller, etc.).
| 1829 H. Widowson Present State of Van Diemen's Land iv. 24 To these [inns] also, I believe, I may add a like number of ‘sly grog shops’, as they are called. 1840 T. P. MacQueen Australia 23 Increased powers ought to be given the magistrates and police to prevent the nuisances usually termed sly grog shops. 1844 Port Phillip Patriot 11 July 2/5 An information..against a party for sly grog selling. 1851 Mayhew Lond. Lab. I. 294/2 A sly trade's always the best for paying, and for selling too. 1858 M{supc}Combie Hist. Victoria x. 127 Convicts, who erected huts, and became ‘sly grog’ sellers. 1875 Melbourne Spectator 21 Aug. 190/1 Several vendors of sly-grog were fined. 1936 F. Clune Roaming round Darling xxiv. 265 What a promotion—a sly-grogger to king of the Toko blacks! 1941 Baker Dict. Austral. Slang 68 Sly-groggery, a sly-grog shop. 1959 M. Scott White Elephant xiii. 137 It's a sly-grogging hole and..I didn't go there. 1969 W. Dick Naked Prodigal 64 We were on our way to the sly grog joint to buy a dozen bottles. |
6. Playfully mischievous or malicious; roguish; waggish.
| 1764 Gray J. T. 1 When sly Jemmy Twitcher had smugg'd up his face. 1785 Burns 1st Ep. to J. Lapraik xiv, A spunk o' Allan's glee, Or Ferguson's, the bauld an' slee. 1800 E. Hervey Mourtray Fam. I. 156 Looking, with a sly wink, at Emma. 1805 N. Nicholls Corr. w. Gray (1843) 45 The sly, delicate, and exquisitely elegant pleasantry of La Fontaine. 1833 Tennyson Miller's Dau. 133 And so it was—half-sly, half-shy, You would, and would not, little one. |
7. In special collocations, as
sly bread,
-bream,
-cake,
silurus (see
quots.); also
† sly-cap, a sly or cunning person;
slypuss [
puss 3 b], a cunning or deceitful girl, a minx; so
slypussness.
| 1681 Otway Soldier's Fort. iv. i, Ah, villain! Ah, sly⁓cap! have I caught you? 1836 Yarrell Brit. Fishes I. 403 The Sly Silurus, Silurus glanis. 1854 Owen in Orr's Circ. Sci., Org. Nat. I. 181 The sly-bream (Sparus insidiator of Pallas). 1855 [Robinson] Whitby Gloss., Sly-cakes, tea-cakes plain and uninviting on the outside, but when eaten are found full of currants and richness within. They are also called Cheats. a 1887 Cassell's Dict. Cookery s.v., Sly Bread, or Bread Fritters (an economical..sweet dish). 1908 W. De Morgan Somehow Good ix. 79 Laetitia, whose speech..appeared to impute insight, or penetration, or sly-pussness..to her young friend. 1942 [see nitwitted a.]. |
8. Comb., as
sly-eyed,
sly-looking,
sly-tongued.
| 1967 G. Kelly in Coast to Coast 1965–6 97 He hated blonde women—sly-eyed, breasts..undulating above her..tunic. |
| 1795 P. Freneau Poems (1902) II. 341 A youngster was order'd to hold himself ready, A sly looking lad that was 'prentice to Snip. 1945 ‘G. Orwell’ Animal Farm vi. 47 He was a sly-looking little man. |
| c 1730 Ramsay Fables, Fox & Rat 30 Dragon, lord chief treasurer, must pay To sly-tongu'd Fleechy. |
B. adv. In a sly, skilful, or cunning manner; slyly. Also
Comb., as
sly-couched,
sly dealing. Now
rare or
poet.| a 1300 Cursor M. 8420 Þow do him for to foster slei, To be lered him-self to lede. 1370–80 Visions St. Paul 125 in O.E. Misc. 226 Þe Aungel seide to him ful sleih, ‘Þei vsuden Ocur and vsuri’. a 1400 Rom. Rose 7449 For semblant was so slye wrought, That falsnesse he ne espyed nought. 1628 Feltham Resolves i. xxxv, Satan began first hesitations, and his sly-couch'd Oratory. a 1802 Katharine Jaffray vii. in Child Ball. IV. 220/2 Up then spak Lord Faughanwood, An he spak very slee. 1931 H. Belloc Sonnets & Verse 80 Wine, bright avenger of sly-dealing wrong. |
C. absol. or as n. 1. pl. Skilful or crafty persons.
† Also
sing., one who is skilled or cunning.
| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 7405 A monek he sende him in message, & dude as þe sley. a 1320 Sir Tristr. 271 And euer he dede as þe sleiȝe. Ibid. 379 O lond þai sett þat sleiȝe. c 1400 Pride of Life in Non-Cycle Myst. Plays 94 Þou spekis noȝt as þe sleye. c 1470 Henry Wallace x. 382 On the fyllat full sternly straik that sle. |
2. on (upon, under, or by) the sly, in a secret, clandestine, or covert manner; without publicity or openness; secretly, covertly, stealthily.
| (a) 1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Dict. s.v., Any business transacted, or intimation given, privately, or under the rose, is said to be done upon the sly. 1866 Reade G. Gaunt (ed. 2) III. 102 A certain farmer's man, who wired hares upon the sly. |
| (b) 1818 Keats Let. 18 Dec. (1958) II. 13 It might have been a good joke to pour on the sly bottle after bottle into a washing tub and roar for more. 1825 Sporting Mag. XVI. 330 We should find them ever on the ‘sly’, as it is called. 1851 Mayhew Lond. Lab. I. 387/1 They sold it..to ladies that liked a drop on the sly. 1888 Bryce Amer. Commw. III. xc. 234 Prominent politicians came to seek favours from him on the sly. |
| (c) 1840 Longfellow Span. Student iii. v, As soon as you see the planets are out, in with you, and be busy with the ten commandments, under the sly. |
| (d) 1859 Geo. Eliot A. Bede vii, Mrs. Poyser..continually gazed at Hetty's charms by the sly. 1861 Rom. Dull Life xxx. 218 It seems to me disgraceful to do things by the sly, that you dare not have known. |
▪ II. sly, v. Sc. and
U.S. (
slaɪ)
[f. sly a.] intr. To move, go, etc., in a sly or stealthy manner; to slip unobserved; to slink.
For other Scottish
dial. senses, see
Jamieson's Dict. s.v. Slee and
Sly.
| 1825 Jamieson Suppl., To Sly, to go or approach silently and slily. 1845 S. Judd Margaret i. xi. (1871) 64 She would creep from her room and sly into the street. 1888 The Advance (Chicago) 6 Dec., Nobody noticed Caddie slying along to the desk where the teacher had laid the switch. |
▪ III. † sly var. of
sli slike a., such.
Obs.| c 1375 Cursor M. 12052 (Fairf.), Quy dos þou, sone, on sly manere. |
▪ IV. sly obs. form of
slay v.