slyly

«slyly» in Mova's school dictionary: In a clever, secret way, often to trick someone — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

adverb (slyly; also slily, rare)

meaning for a pupil

1) In a clever, secret way, often to trick someone. tree →

2) In a playful, knowing way, as if sharing a secret joke: she smiled slyly. tree →

sense in the lessons

A describing word in stories that tells the reader a character is cunning or teasing. Foxes and weasels act slyly in animal stories; in The Wind in the Willows the weasels and stoats slyly take over Toad Hall. In the Just So Stories animals often trick each other slyly. It can be friendly («winked slyly») or not («slyly stole»).

examples

• The fox looked slyly at the hens. tree →
• She slyly took the last biscuit when no one was looking. tree →
• He grinned slyly, knowing the answer. tree →
• The weasels slyly crept into Toad Hall. tree →
• Grandpa slyly slipped me a coin. tree →
• The cat slyly watched the bird from under the bush. tree →
• Some one must have slipped it slyly into my pocket for a joke. tree →

note

Adverb from «sly» (slyer/slier, slyest/sliest). Spelling: «slyly» is now usual. Noun: «slyness». «On the sly» means secretly.

In the corpora

• When the Whale says he is still hungry, the little fish slyly asks whether he has ever tasted Man.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «slyly» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.