guile
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Noun: 1. Sly or cunning intelligence used to deceive others: The quality of being clever, crafty, and skilled in using tricks or dishonesty to achieve one's goals. 2. The practice of using tricks to deceive someone: The act of employing clever but dishonest methods, often to manipulate a situation or person for personal gain.
Usage and Examples
- General Use: Describes a person's character or a specific act of cunning deception.
- He used guile and flattery to get what he wanted.
- The fox in the fable is a symbol of animal guile.
- In Context: Often used to highlight a contrast with brute force or honest methods.
- Where strength failed, guile succeeded.
- She relied more on guile than on truth to win the argument.
Advanced Usage
- "With guile": In a cunning or deceitful manner.
- He answered the questions with guile, avoiding a direct confession.
- "Free from guile": Completely honest and without deceit.
- Her apology seemed sincere and free from guile.
Variants and Related Words
- Guileful (adjective): Characterized by or full of guile; deceitfully cunning.
- He gave a guileful smile.
- Guileless (adjective): Innocent and without deception; sincere.
- She has a guileless charm that people trust immediately.
Synonyms
- Cunning: Skill in achieving one's ends by deceit.
- Craftiness: Skill in deception or subterfuge.
- Slyness: Having or showing a cunning and deceitful nature.
- Wiliness: Full of clever tricks.
- Duplicity: Deceitfulness; double-dealing.
Antonyms
- Honesty
- Candor
- Guilelessness
- Naivety
- Artlessness
Idioms and Phrases
- "A web of guile": A complex, interconnected series of deceptions.
- The spy was trapped in a web of guile of his own making.
- "Guile and treachery": A common pairing emphasizing both cunning and betrayal.
- The kingdom was overthrown through guile and treachery.
Noun
- the use of tricks to deceive someone (usually to extract money from them)
- the quality of being crafty
- shrewdness as demonstrated by being skilled in deception