sly

Some common synonyms of sly are artful, crafty, cunning, foxy, slick, tricky, and wily. While all these words mean "attaining or seeking to attain one's ends by guileful or devious means," sly implies furtiveness, lack of candor, and skill in concealing one's aims and methods.

The words artful and sly 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 sly, crafty implies cleverness and subtlety of method.

While the synonyms cunning and sly are close in meaning, cunning suggests the inventive use of sometimes limited intelligence in overreaching or circumventing.

The synonyms foxy and sly are sometimes interchangeable, but foxy implies a shrewd and wary craftiness usually involving devious dealing.

In some situations, the words slick and sly are roughly equivalent. However, slick emphasizes smoothness and guile.

Although the words tricky and sly have much in common, tricky is more likely to suggest shiftiness and unreliability than skill in deception and maneuvering.

The meanings of wily and sly largely overlap; however, wily implies skill and deception in maneuvering.