Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Artful; deceitful: Describes a person or action characterized by cunning intelligence, clever trickery, or deceptive shrewdness, often to achieve a selfish goal.
   • Crafty; sly: Possessing or showing skill in achieving one's ends through indirect, subtle, or underhanded means.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Hắn ta là một kẻ giảo quyệt, luôn tìm cách lừa gạt người khác. (He is an artful person, always looking for ways to deceive others.)
  • Âm mưu đó thật giảo quyệt. (That scheme is truly deceitful.)
  • Với nụ cười giảo quyệt, nó bắt đầu kể một câu chuyện hoàn toàn sai sự thật. (With a crafty smile, he began to tell a completely untrue story.)

Advanced Usage

• The term often implies a negative moral judgment, suggesting not just intelligence but a morally questionable cleverness used for manipulation or fraud.

Variants and Related Words

• Xảo quyệt (adj): A direct synonym with identical meaning and usage.
  • Thủ đoạn xảo quyệt. (A crafty trick.)

Synonyms

• Cunning: Skilled in achieving one's ends by deceit.
• Devious: Showing a skillful use of underhanded tactics to achieve goals.
• Wily: Skilled at gaining an advantage, especially deceitfully.
• Sly: Having or showing a cunning and deceitful nature.

Related Idioms

• Giảo quyệt như cáo: As sly as a fox.
  • Tên trộm đó giảo quyệt như cáo, cảnh sát khó lòng bắt được. (That thief is as sly as a fox; the police will have a hard time catching him.)

adj

1. artful; deceitful