crafty
UK /ˈkɹɑːfti/ · US /ˈkɹæfti/ adjective
Forms craftier craftiest
- adjective Skillful at deceiving others.
- adjective Sneaky; surreptitious. “I took a crafty look at his hand of cards while he was out of the room.”
- adjective Relating to, or characterized by, craft or skill; dexterous, clever.
- adjective (dated) Magical or occult, or allegedly so. “a crafty science”
Synonyms
cunning wily dodgy foxy guileful knavish slick sly tricksy tricky
Etymology
From Middle English crafty, crefty, craftiȝ, from Old English cræftiġ (“ingenious; skilful; crafty; cunning; virtuous; powerful”), from Proto-West Germanic *kraftag, *kraftīg, *kraftug, from Proto-Germanic *kraftugaz (“powerful”), equivalent to craft + -y. Cognate with Saterland Frisian kräftich, krääftig, West Frisian krêftich, Dutch krachtig, German Low German krachtig, German kräftig.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Relating to, or characterized by, craft or skill; dexterous.
- adjective Possessing dexterity; skilled; skillful.
Etymology [AS. cr.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “crafty”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details