How to use sly in a sentence

Examples of sly by meaning

More sentences with sly

• Shakespeare's use of the word scut may be a sly reference to Mistress Ford's pudenda: see sense 3.From the entry scut
• The sly reveal has kicked off a theorycrafting love triangle reminiscent of Final Fantasy 7’s Clerith vs.2026 March 5, Jen Glennon, “Leon Kennedy's secret wife has given Resident Evil its Clerith moment”, in Polygon, archived from the original…. From the entry Clerith
• His writing about the shattering nature of syphilis is both devastating and a bit sly.2019 November 8, Dwight Garner, “From Nabokov and Lawrence, Giants of 20th-Century Fiction, New Volumes of Nonfiction”, in New York Times. From the entry rugburn
• Jefferson's hyperracial culture was not just upheld by students making sly comments in the shadows.2017, Shayla Reese Griffin, Those Kids, Our Schools: Race and Reform in an American High School, Harvard Education Press, →ISBN. From the entry hyperracial
• “I guess everyone’s got butterfingers around here,” Cole said with a sly smile.2014, Scott Ciencin, chapter 1, in Luck Be a Lady […] (Charmed), New York, N.Y.: Simon Spotlight Entertainment, Simon & Schuster…. From the entry butterfingers
• “Where's your counterpart tonight, Mandy?” he asked with a sly smile.2007, Ashley Ezell, Harvest of Hearts, Ashley Ezell, →ISBN, page 124. From the entry finagle
• Allen plays Alvy Singer, a Jewish comedian whose jokes are more Borscht Belt than sly urban wit.2007, Steven H. Scheuer, Alida Brill-Scheuer, Pocket Guide to Collecting Movies on DVD. From the entry borscht belt
• And he was also a very sly one — for Glenn Miller."1980, George Thomas Simon, Glenn Miller and His Orchestra. From the entry thoughty
• The two meet in Uncle and form the spine of a sly, knowing, and ultimately uncompassionate novel.1979 February 10, Michael Bronski, “An American Dream”, in Gay Community News, volume 6, number 28, page 11. From the entry spine
• Then the woman’s eyes changed into the sly and sad and abandoned eyes of a homo.1954, Benjamin Appel, Sweet Money Girl: A Gold Medal Original, page 64. From the entry wolfess
• Whole sleevesful of sly little tricks that work figure magic . . .1946 March 1, “Ben Simon & Sons: We’ve Something Up Our Sleeve!”, in Lincoln Evening Journal, Lincoln, Neb., page 9. From the entry sleeveful
• Is the above a sly way of starting a procession of unmarried printeresses toward the Sun office?1919 January 30, The Border Sentinel, volume 31, number 33, Mound City, Kan.. From the entry printeress
• "At your service." She concluded with a sly wink.2019 December 21, WorldWeaver, Radley, “Alabastor: Age of Heroes”, in rpnation.com. From the entry archgrandmaster
• Alternatively there may be a sly joke here as the Highlander Ramsay is more 'northern' than the Edinbronian Hume.2015, Michael Morris, Scotland and the Caribbean, c.1740-1833: Atlantic Archipelagos, →ISBN. From the entry Edinbronian
• What kept his devices from feeling larkish was a sly vocal intimation: even at his most weirdly expressive, Mr.2009 June 19, Nate Chinen, “Territory of Two Norwegian Trumpeters”, in New York Times. From the entry larkish
• "Ho, they're a pretty sly lot," said Silvander Dan.1936, Norman Lindsay, The Flyaway Highway, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 24. From the entry ho
• Wetting his thumb with sly thin aftersmile, he told.1929, Thomas Wolfe, Look Homeward, Angel, New York: Scribner, published 1957, Part 2, Chapter 21, p. 236. From the entry aftersmile
• And all the time she'd be brivetting about on the sly with any good-for-nothing young rascals she could get hold on.1920, Eric Leadbitter, Shepherd's warning, page 148. From the entry brivet
• The sly old rascal might easily be deceiving his daughter for a second time with regard to his smugglesome traits.1908, Edward Henry Peple, The Spitfire. From the entry smugglesome
• Jazz was the pop music of the times and musicians in the know began peppering their songs with sly and unsly drug references.2017, Colin Hogg, The High Road: A Journey to the New Frontier of Cannabis. From the entry unsly
• Baltimore's politics was based on election-day walk-around money, handed over with a sly wink by the precinct bosses, ensuring everybody got out the neighborhood vote.2008, Michael Olesker, The Colts' Baltimore, page 6. From the entry walk-around money
• He was working for us on the sly at the Herald-Traveler-Record-American (before it shortened its topheavy name), then as now a reactionary, homophobic rag.1984 December 15, John Kyper, “Remembering David Stryker”, in Gay Community News, volume 12, number 22, page 5. From the entry on the sly
• Dost think I could ride a horse and learn the tricks of Carricade and sly passata, Stramazon and bold stoccata, Maudritta to embrocata.1918, Adventure - Volume 17, Part 1, page 8. From the entry estramacon
• Douglas steams and stammers, a typical film noir heel, while Stone delivers her dialogue with the devilish gleam of a sly actor having a great time.2022 March 20, Jason Bailey, “‘Basic Instinct’ at 30: A Time Capsule That Can Still Offend”, in The New York Times, →ISSN. From the entry heel
• Sly and the Family Stone sound entirely futuristic – like everyone else they have malfunctioning gear, but they “hurry up and play to avoid hanging you up”.2019 August 15, Bob Stanley, “'Groovy, groovy, groovy': listening to Woodstock 50 years on – all 38 discs”, in The Guardian. From the entry tight as a drum
• The Sirens, gleeful scourge of mariners, beguiling bane and cruelhearted joy, whom no man could abandon once he'd heard them, were left, they say, through sly Ulysses' ploy.2014, Martial, Selected Epigrams, →ISBN, page 28. From the entry cruelhearted
• The five-thousand-dollar stall renovations completed in just three days last summer were overseen by Horse Beautiful’s own Martá Ezdurta, the irreverent decoratrix and sly CEO of Charming Barns Forever.2008, Maxianne Berger, Chemins de désir, voies de plaisir, volume 2, →ISBN, page 65. From the entry decoratrix
• Addicted to the sentimental novels that he is fed on the sly by the son of the circulating librarianess, Edward Denham represents an outdated, Lovelacean libertinism.2000, Deidre Lynch, Janeites: Austen's Disciples and Devotees, Princeton University Press, →ISBN, page 134. From the entry librarianess
• But now”—and here he turns from the mountains, his eyes dancing with that new energy, his lips in a sly smile—“now it’s time for my deluxest yarn.1980, Andrew Klavan, Face of the Earth, New York, N.Y.: The Viking Press, →ISBN, page 41. From the entry deluxe
• The sly machinations of the ocean had been defeated; the demons that dwell far down in the worm-eaten anfractures of the island caves were foiled .1932, Sir Ronald Ross ·, The Child of Ocean, page 262. From the entry anfracture
• In a sly bit of casting, Tony Goldwyn — a star of the pulpy TV series “Scandal” — shows up as one of the leaders of the Christmas Adventurers Club..2025 September 25, Manohla Dargis, “‘One Battle After Another’ Review: Paul Thomas Anderson’s Rallying Cry”, in The New York Times, New…. From the entry pulpy
• His voice rises and falls in a sly, scratchy singsong — no wonder he calls himself Weezy — that can sound like a cackly old man or a wisecracking kid.2008 June 10, Jon Pareles, “Rapper’s Road to Pop”, in New York Times. From the entry cackly
• Which is to say that he is an Englishman, well practiced in masking pain and absurdity and descents into sheer goofiness with mannerly behavior, sly irony and stiff upper lips.2003 November 3, Richard Schickel, “Sweet Agonies of Affection”, in Time. From the entry englishman
• And I’ll bet he and that Rachel woman—she needn’t think she’s off the hook, she’s got that sly, mistressy look about her—have invited people I’ve been carefully snubbing for years.2003, Anna Maxted, Behaving Like Adults, ReganBooks, →ISBN, pages 360–361. From the entry mistressy

Meaning of sly

1. adjective Artfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily.
2. adjective Dexterous in performing an action, so as to escape notice.
3. adjective Done with, and marked by, artful and dexterous secrecy; subtle.

Full definition of sly

More about sly

• Meaning of sly
• Synonyms of sly
• Sly in Tamil
• Sly in Urdu
• Sly in Bengali
• Sly in Telugu

Questions about sly in a sentence

How do you use sly in a sentence?

Sly is used as an adjective and adverb. For example: “Shakespeare's use of the word scut may be a sly reference to Mistress Ford's pudenda: see sense 3.”

What is a short sentence with sly?

“a sly trick”

What does sly mean?

Sly means artfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily.