wily, a. (n., adv.)
(ˈwaɪlɪ)
Forms: 4 wili, wyli, 4–5 wyle, 4–6 wyly, (4, 6 wely), 5 wilye, (whily, 5–6 wylly, 5, 7 willy), 5–7 (8 Sc.) wylie, 6 wylye, (whyly, Sc. vylie), 6–7 wilie, 8 wiley, 4– wily.
[f. wile n. + -y1.]
1. Full of or characterized by wiles; crafty, cunning, sly, artful. a. Of a person or animal (or fig. of a thing personified).
Rarely in a good sense: Astute, clever.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 11807 Þis herods..þat wili [Fairf. wely] wolf. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 9849 He was boþe wyly & sley. 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 1728 So reniarde was wyle. c 1386 Chaucer Monk's Prol. 52 No poure cloystrer ne no Novys Bot a gouernour wily and wys. ― Pars. T. ¶252 The serpent that was moost wily of alle othere beestes. 1470–85 Malory Arthur iv. xxvi. 155 And there he was in grete peryl, for the gyant was a wyly fyghter. 1489 Caxton Faytes of A. i. vii. B j b, Be he..wyly to deffende hym fro theym, & wysely to assaille them. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 60 Lyke as y⊇ sparowe the wyly byrde escheweth all panters & snares. 1581 A. Hall Iliad ii. 23 To finde the wilie Vlysses straight downe she tooke hir walke. 1639 J. Clarke Parœm. 285 As willy as a foxe. 1662 R. Mathew Unl. Alch. 177 The wily spirits of the Armoniack. 1729 Savage Wanderer i. 95 Mark! wiley Fowlers meditate their Doom. 1807 Crabbe Library 243 Here wily Jesuits simple Quakers meet. 1878 Bayne Purit. Rev. ii. 49 The brilliant wily Welshman found himself sharply repelled. 1905 Treves Other Side of Lantern iii. viii. (1906) 225 In the..night the wily tide will glide a shoal across the fairway. |
b. Of personal attributes, actions, etc.
| c 1400 Beryn 444 Tapsters, & oþer such, þat hath wyly wittis To pik mennys pursis. c 1407 Lydg. Reson & Sens. 2758 Hercules..by his whily sleyght Bar away the ryche fruyt. 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. xxix. (Percy Soc.) 139 She had him caught in suche a wyly snare. 1551 T. Wilson Logic C iv b, The wily vsyng of wordes that in sence haue double meanyng. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage iv. iii. 298 Ventidius..by a wily Stratageme, counterfeiting flight and feare. 1641 Milton Ch. Govt. ii. E 4, The wily suttleties and refluxes of mans thoughts. 1721 Ramsay Prospect of Plenty 33 Artfu' Nets, and Fishers' wylie Skill. 1850 Kingsley Alton Locke xxxvii, Judas's averted and wily face. 1905 Times Lit. Suppl. 11 Feb. 45/3 An imaginary line..offered no real obstacle to a determined and wily advance. |
† 2. ellipt. as n. A wily person or animal; in quot. c 1460 as proper name (cf. 4). Obs.
| 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 1905 Þay fel on hym alle, & woried me þis wyly wyth a wroth noyse. c 1460 Wisdom 607 in Macro Plays 55 Yt ys clepyde wysdom: ‘ware þat!’ quod Wyly. |
† 3. as adv. Craftily, cunningly: = wilily. Obs.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 1452 Aþel vessel, Þat wyth so curious a crafte coruen was wyly. 1567 Harman Caveat A ij, All these..rabblement of rakehelles, that..do..gayne great almes in all places where they wyly wander. 1574 Satir. Poems Reform. xlii. 59 Thocht for thair tyme sum wylie winkit. 1623 Cockeram, Wily, craftily. |
4. Special Collocations and Combinations. † a. wily-man, wily-pie [pie n.1], wily-wat [wat1], appellations for a crafty or cunning fellow (the first as a proper name). Obs.
| 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. v. 27 Then waryn wysman and wyly-man his felawe Fayn were to folwen hem. c 1450 Chance of Dice 147 in Engl. Studien LIX. 9 Lorde verrely ye ben a wyly pye. 1542–79 [see pie n.1 2]. 1550 Bale Apol. 73 Ye are a wyly watte in the kyngdome of crafte and generacion of falshede. c 1550 ― K. Johan (Camden) 3 Ye are a wylly wat, & wander here full warelye. 1581 J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 244 b, Osorius is a wylypye, and will not be destitute of a starting hoale. [1587 Harrison England ii. iii. 149/1 Oh madam (saith he) the wiliest pie of all, these are no pies but soules in purgatorie that craue releefe.] |
† b. wily beguile, also freq. in jingling form wily beguily (and similar expressions): orig. in phr. to play wily beguile oneself (also later in various corrupt forms), to act wilily in such a way as to be oneself beguiled, to be entrapped by one's own craftiness; hence wily beguily (rarely wily beguile, wily gilie, wily guile) as n. phr. (a) a person who acts thus, or (simply) who acts wilily or craftily; (b) an act of this kind, or (simply) a wily act or action, a crafty trick, cunning trickery; rarely as adj., an emphatic extension of wily. Obs.
| 1555 Latimer in Strype Eccl. Mem. (1721) III. App. xxxvi. 103 Let men beware that they play not wylye begile themselves, as I feare me they do that go to masse. Ibid., Thus they play wyly, beguylyng them selves. 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 103 To whiche smart mocke, and wyly begylyng, He..saide [etc.]. 1570 Foxe A. & M. (ed. 2) 193/2 While they thinke to deceaue the simple, these wylye begely most of all deceaue them selues. 1581 J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 303 b Sufficiently instructed in those your wyly beguilye and..to well acquainted with your ambitious hawtynes. 1589 [? Nashe] Almond for Parrat 17 b, The wicked..being so full of their wilie gilies. 1606 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iv. Magnificence 684 Smiles, Wylie-Guiles, queint witty-pretty Toyes. 1618 Breton Courtier & Countryman C 4 b, What is the end of all wily beguily? seeking to deceiue other, deceiu'd himselfe most of all. 1621 Bp. R. Montagu Diatribæ 137 It shall go hard, but our wily-beguily Wits, will one way or other finde an euasion. 1625 J. Robinson Observ. xv. 102 Such wily⁓beguilies may for a time..get the opinion of prudent, and politick persons. 1639 J. Clarke Parœm. 101 Wilie beguilie deceives himself. |
c. Comb. (of the adj. or adv.), as wily-headed, wily-witty adjs.
| 1596 Spenser State Irel. Wks. (Globe) 619/1 They are..soe cautelous and wylye-headed. 1624 Gee Foot out of Snare App. 108, I shall begin to recant my opinion of his wily-witty worth. |