guile
Astuteness often marked by a certain sense of cunning or artful deceptionAstuteness often marked by a certain sense of cunning or artful deception.
» I refuse to be taken in by her guile.
Meaning
2 senses(uncountable)Astuteness often marked by a certain sense of cunning or artful deception.
Gerissenheit, Hinterhältigkeit
хи́тростьxítrostʹ, кова́рствоkovárstvo
(countable, uncountable)Deceptiveness, deceit, fraud, duplicity, dishonesty.
Hinterlist, Täuschung, Betrug
обманobman, вероломствоverolomstvo
- the quality of being crafty
- the use of tricks to deceive someone (usually to extract money from them)
- shrewdness as demonstrated by being skilled in deception
Examples
3 sentencesI refuse to be taken in by her guile.
He who discards his brother through guile, won't find him when he looks for him.
Being totally open and honest isn't always the best idea. These kinds of negotiations require some guile.
Translations
7 languagesBy meaning 2
By meaning 2
Origin
From Middle English gile, from Anglo-Norman gile, from Old French guile (“deception”), froFrom Middle English gile, from Anglo-Norman gile, from Old French guile (“deception”), from Frankish *wīl (“ruse”), from Proto-Germanic *wīlą, from Proto-Indo-European *wey- (“to turn, bend”). Cognate via Proto-Germanic with wile.
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Forms
plural: guilesSynonyms
11 synonyms- the quality of being crafty:craftiness
- the use of tricks to deceive someone (usually to extract money from them):trickerychicanerychicanewileshenanigan
- shrewdness as demonstrated by being skilled in deception:craftcraftinesscunningfoxinessslynesswiliness
Word family
2 related wordsLessons for this word
1 lessons- A1Countable and uncountable nouns — Because it can be uncountable