wile
[noun]
Synonyms: trick, artifice, device, feint, gambit, gimmick, maneuver, ploy, ruse, stratagem
[verb]
Synonyms: attract, allure, bewitch, captivate, charm, draw, enchant, fascinate, magnetize, take, while, beguile, fleet

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Contrasted words: candor, frankness, openness, plain dealing, straightforwardness, unconstraint, artlessness, naturalness, sincerity
Related Words: chicane, chicanery, trickery, cunning, deceit, dissimulation, guile

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

wile noun. [wʌɪl] Now usu. in pl. ME.
[Perh. from unrecorded Old Norse noun whence vél craft, artifice rel. to véla defraud.]
1. A crafty, cunning, or deceitful trick; a stratagem, a ruse. Formerly also, a piece of deception, a delusion. ME.
Guardian Now..people are wise to the wiles of the credit card companies.
b. A subtle or skilful device or scheme; a clever or resourceful procedure. obsolete exc. as passing into prec. ME.
c. An amorous or playful trick; an enticing or charming ploy. L16.
■ B. Trapido They used their considerable girlish wiles to draw him out.
d. spec. A cunning trick of a hare to escape its hunters. L17.

2. Deceit, deceitfulness; cunning, trickery, guile. Now rare. LME.
■ Lytton This Godwin is a man of treachery and wile.

3. Any of various mechanical devices; spec. (Scot.) a device for twisting straw ropes. L17.

■ wilely adjective wily M16-L18.

[TahlilGaran] English Dictionary ▲

wile verb. [wʌɪl] ME.
[from the noun.]
1. verb trans. Bring, entice, or get by a wile or wiles; lead, induce, or obtain by deception, cunning, or enticement. Freq. foll. by away, into, over. ME.
■ R. L. Stevenson She could neither be driven nor wiled into the parish kirk.

2. Divert attention pleasantly from (something unpleasant or tedious); esp. while away (time) pleasantly or divertingly. Freq. foll. by away. L18.
Cook's Magazine While waiting for responses.., he began baking bread to wile away the time.

[TahlilGaran] English Dictionary ▲