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Showing results for guile. Search instead for guilel.
Definitions

guile

[gahyl] / gaɪl /
NOUN
slyness, cleverness
Synonyms
STRONGEST
trickery
STRONG
artfulness artifice chicanery craft craftiness cunning deceit deception dishonesty dissimulation duplicity jive ruse sellout treachery trickiness wiliness
WEAK
dirty dealing dirty pool dirty trick dirty work dissemblance double-cross foul play runaround sharp practice stab in the back
Antonyms
STRONG
forthrightness frankness honesty honor openness sincerity trustworthiness truth truthfulness uprightness
WEAK
artlessness naïveté

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Like Julien Duvivier and François Truffaut before him, Kiarostami captures their innocence and guile with righteous force.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 27, 2025

Harmer outdid the Indian spinners in their own den with his guile and turn.

From Barron's • Nov. 26, 2025

Rayan Cherki adds subtlety in midfield, while Phil Foden is back to his best and Bernardo Silva still has all the old guile to keep City moving with his prompting.

From BBC • Nov. 9, 2025

A winning combination of discipline and guile from the spinners put Bangladesh in a great position as, for the third time in four World Cup matches, South Africa's top-order crumbled.

From BBC • Oct. 13, 2025

In this speech, Satan talks a big game about “force or guile”—but having tried force and lost, guile is his inevitable resort.

From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith