crafty

Some common synonyms of crafty are artful, cunning, foxy, slick, sly, tricky, and wily. While all these words mean "attaining or seeking to attain one's ends by guileful or devious means," crafty implies cleverness and subtlety of method.

The words artful and crafty are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, artful implies indirectness in dealing and often connotes sophistication or cleverness.

While in some cases nearly identical to crafty, cunning suggests the inventive use of sometimes limited intelligence in overreaching or circumventing.

The words foxy and crafty can be used in similar contexts, but foxy implies a shrewd and wary craftiness usually involving devious dealing.

While the synonyms slick and crafty are close in meaning, slick emphasizes smoothness and guile.

The synonyms sly and crafty are sometimes interchangeable, but sly implies furtiveness, lack of candor, and skill in concealing one's aims and methods.

The meanings of tricky and crafty largely overlap; however, tricky is more likely to suggest shiftiness and unreliability than skill in deception and maneuvering.

Although the words wily and crafty have much in common, wily implies skill and deception in maneuvering.