sly

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.

After he saves the day, and his Daily Planet colleagues remark on Superman’s skills, his alter ego Clark Kent gives a sly glance to the camera, letting the audience in on the, quite obvious, ruse.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 7, 2026

"Nobody had agreed to it at all. Really sly," fellow chorister Kevin Doughty says in Con Jones: World's Best Conman.

From BBC • Dec. 31, 2025

Here, it is a man whose labor disappears behind a woman’s byline, a sly inversion of the far more familiar historical pattern.

From Salon • Dec. 25, 2025

But Dougal’s naiveté does not preclude a sly sense of humor.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 27, 2025

She sat down on the stairs and opened a bottle of sly blue nail polish.

From "The Lemonade War" by Jacqueline Davies