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wile

 
Dictionary: wile   (wīl) pronunciation
n.
  1. A stratagem or trick intended to deceive or ensnare.
  2. A disarming or seductive manner, device, or procedure: the wiles of a skilled negotiator.
  3. Trickery; cunning.
tr.v., wiled, wil·ing, wiles.
  1. To influence or lead by means of wiles; entice.
  2. To pass (time) agreeably: wile away a Sunday afternoon.

[Middle English wil, from Old North French, from Old Norse vēl, trick, or of Low German origin.]

SYNONYMS   wile, artifice, trick, ruse, feint, stratagem, maneuver, dodge. These nouns denote means for achieving an end by indirection or deviousness. Wile suggests deceiving and entrapping a victim by playing on his or her weak points: "He did not fail to see/His uncle's cunning wiles and treachery" (William Morris). Artifice refers to something especially contrived to create a desired effect: "Should the public forgive artifices used to avoid military service?" (Godfrey Sperling). Trick implies willful deception: "The ... boys ... had all sorts of tricks to prevent us from winning" (W.H. Hudson). Ruse stresses the creation of a false impression: Your pretended deafness was a ruse to enable you to learn our plans, wasn't it? Feint denotes a deceptive act calculated to distract attention from one's real purpose: One person bumped into me as a feint while the other stole my wallet. Stratagem implies carefully planned deception used to achieve an objective: The manager used ruthless stratagems to win the promotion. Maneuver often applies to a single strategic move: "To this day they always speak of that Reform Bill as if it had been a dishonest maneuver" (The Standard). Dodge stresses shifty and ingenious deception: "'It was all false, of course?' 'All, sir,' replied Mr. Weller, ' ... artful dodge'" (Charles Dickens).


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Thesaurus: wile
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noun

    An indirect, usually cunning means of gaining an end: artifice, deception, device, dodge, feint, gimmick, imposture, jig, maneuver, ploy, ruse, sleight, stratagem, subterfuge, trick. Informal shenanigan, take-in. See honest/dishonest, means.

verb

    To pass (time) without working or in avoiding work. dawdle (away), fiddle away, idle (away), kill1, trifle away, waste, while (away). See industrious/lazy.

Antonyms: wile
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n

Definition: cunning
Antonyms: naivety, stupidity


Word Tutor: wile
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pronunciation

IN BRIEF: The use of tricks to deceive someone.

pronunciation The crook tried one wile after another to deceive the people of the town.

Tutor's tip: Another word that sounds like wile which means an act of cunning, is while which means at the same time that.

Translations: Wile
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Dansk (Danish)
n. - kneb, list, bedrag
v. tr. - lokke

Nederlands (Dutch)
glad, geslepen(heid), slimme streek, oplichterij, oplichten

Français (French)
n. - ruse
v. tr. - influencer/entraîner par la ruse, attirer, séduire

Deutsch (German)
n. - List, Kniff
v. - (ver)locken

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - πονηριά, τέχνασμα
v. - εξαπατώ (με κόλπα), καλοπιάνω, κολακεύω

Italiano (Italian)
stratagemma, allettare

Português (Portuguese)
n. - ardil (m)
v. - enganar, passar o tempo

Русский (Russian)
ухищрения, ложь, заманивать, коротать (время)

Español (Spanish)
n. - artimaña, ardid, estratagema, treta
v. tr. - atraer, engatusar, seducir

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - list
v. - locka, fördriva (tid)

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
诡计, 欺骗, 阴谋, 消遣, 诱骗

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 詭計, 欺騙, 陰謀
v. tr. - 欺騙, 消遣, 誘騙

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 간계, 계략, 교활
v. tr. - 속이다, 지내다, 이럭저럭 보내다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - たくらみ, 策略, 手管
v. - おびき出す, 気ままに過ごす

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) خدعه, مكيدة, حيله, خداع (فعل) يخدع, يراود, يقضي الوقت‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮תכסיס, תחבולה, הונאה‬
v. tr. - ‮פיתה, תעתע ב-‬


 
 
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Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
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