| 释义 |
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.
a1300Cursor M. 11807 Þis herods..þat wili [Fairf. wely] wolf. c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 9849 He was boþe wyly & sley. 13..Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 1728 So reniarde was wyle. c1386Chaucer 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. 1470–85Malory Arthur iv. xxvi. 155 And there he was in grete peryl, for the gyant was a wyly fyghter. 1489Caxton Faytes of A. i. vii. B j b, Be he..wyly to deffende hym fro theym, & wysely to assaille them. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 60 Lyke as y⊇ sparowe the wyly byrde escheweth all panters & snares. 1581A. Hall Iliad ii. 23 To finde the wilie Vlysses straight downe she tooke hir walke. 1639J. Clarke Parœm. 285 As willy as a foxe. 1662R. Mathew Unl. Alch. 177 The wily spirits of the Armoniack. 1729Savage Wanderer i. 95 Mark! wiley Fowlers meditate their Doom. 1807Crabbe Library 243 Here wily Jesuits simple Quakers meet. 1878Bayne Purit. Rev. ii. 49 The brilliant wily Welshman found himself sharply repelled. 1905Treves 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.
c1400Beryn 444 Tapsters, & oþer such, þat hath wyly wittis To pik mennys pursis. c1407Lydg. Reson & Sens. 2758 Hercules..by his whily sleyght Bar away the ryche fruyt. 1509Hawes Past. Pleas. xxix. (Percy Soc.) 139 She had him caught in suche a wyly snare. 1551T. Wilson Logic C iv b, The wily vsyng of wordes that in sence haue double meanyng. 1613Purchas Pilgrimage iv. iii. 298 Ventidius..by a wily Stratageme, counterfeiting flight and feare. 1641Milton Ch. Govt. ii. E 4, The wily suttleties and refluxes of mans thoughts. 1721Ramsay Prospect of Plenty 33 Artfu' Nets, and Fishers' wylie Skill. 1850Kingsley Alton Locke xxxvii, Judas's averted and wily face. 1905Times 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. c1460Wisdom 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. 1567Harman Caveat A ij, All these..rabblement of rakehelles, that..do..gayne great almes in all places where they wyly wander. 1574Satir. Poems Reform. xlii. 59 Thocht for thair tyme sum wylie winkit. 1623Cockeram, 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.
1393Langl. P. Pl. C. v. 27 Then waryn wysman and wyly-man his felawe Fayn were to folwen hem. c1450Chance of Dice 147 in Engl. Studien LIX. 9 Lorde verrely ye ben a wyly pye. 1542–79[see pie n.1 2]. 1550Bale Apol. 73 Ye are a wyly watte in the kyngdome of crafte and generacion of falshede. c1550― K. Johan (Camden) 3 Ye are a wylly wat, & wander here full warelye. 1581J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 244 b, Osorius is a wylypye, and will not be destitute of a starting hoale. [1587Harrison 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.
1555Latimer 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. 1562J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 103 To whiche smart mocke, and wyly begylyng, He..saide [etc.]. 1570Foxe A. & M. (ed. 2) 193/2 While they thinke to deceaue the simple, these wylye begely most of all deceaue them selues. 1581J. 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. 1606Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iv. Magnificence 684 Smiles, Wylie-Guiles, queint witty-pretty Toyes. 1618Breton Courtier & Countryman C 4 b, What is the end of all wily beguily? seeking to deceiue other, deceiu'd himselfe most of all. 1621Bp. R. Montagu Diatribæ 137 It shall go hard, but our wily-beguily Wits, will one way or other finde an euasion. 1625J. Robinson Observ. xv. 102 Such wily⁓beguilies may for a time..get the opinion of prudent, and politick persons. 1639J. Clarke Parœm. 101 Wilie beguilie deceives himself.
c. Comb. (of the adj. or adv.), as wily-headed, wily-witty adjs.
1596Spenser State Irel. Wks. (Globe) 619/1 They are..soe cautelous and wylye-headed. 1624Gee Foot out of Snare App. 108, I shall begin to recant my opinion of his wily-witty worth. |