From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishslysly /slaɪ/ adjective1INTELLIGENTsomeone who is sly cleverly deceives people in order to get what they wantSYN cunning► see thesaurus at dishonest2 →sly smile/glance/wink etc3 →on the sly —slyly adverb —slyness noun [uncountable]Examples from the Corpussly• Children of that age can be very sly.• My parents didn't approve, but we continued to meet on the sly.• Eliot looked sly and deceitful, as though he wasn't telling us the whole truth.• I began to dislike her; she looked sly and I felt indignant that she'd spoken to me like that.• He wanted to forget that she was sly and spiteful and malicious.• Manshin Anjima gave me a sly look and wrote down the name of her cemetery.• A sly look crossed his face when Patsymentioned the money.• The sly old Congressman knows what it takes to get elected.• He's a sly old devil isn't he! Nobody knew he had as much money as that!• How the sly one squeaked, howled, sizzled, hissed, and swelled his hairycarapace!• Mitchell was shocked to see the man signaling him with slywinks.Originsly(1200-1300)Old Norseslgr
