2. Artfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily. For my sly wiles and subtle craftiness, The litle of the kingdom I possess. Spenser.
3. Done with, and marked by, artful and dexterous secrecy; subtle; as, a sly trick. Envy works in a sly and imperceptible manner. I. Watts.
4. Light or delicate; slight; thin. [Obs.] By the sly, or On the sly, in a sly or secret manner. [Colloq.] "Gazed on Hetty's charms by the sly." G. Eliot. — Sly goose (Zoöl.), the common sheldrake; — so named from its craftiness.
Syn.
— Cunning; crafty; subtile; wily. See Cunning.
SLY
Sly, adv.
Defn: Slyly. [Obs. or Poetic] Spenser.
SLYBOOTS
Sly"boots`, n.
Defn: A humerous appellation for a sly, cunning, or waggish person.
Slyboots was cursedly cunning to hide 'em. Goldsmith.
SLYLY
Sly"ly, adv.
Defn: In a sly manner; shrewdly; craftily.
Honestly and slyly he it spent. Chaucer.