Sly example sentences
Related (13): cunning, wily, crafty, devious, sneaky, mischievous, playful, artful, scheming, furtive, guileful, tricky, clever
"Sly" Example Sentences
Common Phrases
- sly smile
- sly move
- sly grin
- sly remark
- sly fox
- sly sense of humor
- sly dig
- sly wink
- sly trick
- sly glance
- sly comment
- sly way
- sly intelligence
Examples by Level
A1
- The sly cat stole the fish from the table.
- He gave a sly smile and said nothing.
A2
- She made a sly comment that made everyone laugh.
- The sly fox escaped from the farmer again.
B1
- There was something sly about the way he phrased the question — like he already knew the answer.
- I caught a sly glance between them and realized they'd been planning this the whole time.
B2
- His sly sense of humor often masked a deeper intelligence that people tended to underestimate.
- The negotiator made a sly reference to the competitor's weakness without ever naming it directly.
C1
- What appeared to be innocent small talk was, in fact, a sly attempt to gather information about her intentions.
- The author's sly commentary on modern politics was woven so seamlessly into the narrative that many readers missed it entirely.
C2
- There existed in her manner a peculiar sly sophistication — the kind that suggested she understood far more than she was willing to reveal.
- The sly brilliance of the scheme lay not in its complexity but in its exploitation of everyone's assumption that no one would dare attempt something so audacious.
Examples by Scenario
🏠 Everyday Life
- My neighbor made a sly comment about my garden and I'm still not sure if she was complimenting or insulting me.
- The dog had this sly expression when she thought I wasn't looking at her stealing from the trash.
💼 Workplace
- He made a sly remark in the meeting that technically wasn't insubordinate but definitely crossed a line.
- She pulled off something pretty sly with the budget allocation — nobody noticed until it was too late.
📊 Business
- The competitor's sly pricing strategy undercut us just enough to steal market share without triggering a price war.
- That was a sly move in the contract — burying the clause in paragraph seven where nobody would read it.
🛒 Buying / Shopping
- The store made a sly change to the package size without lowering the price — I almost didn't notice.
- He used a sly discount code he found online that saved us forty percent on the whole order.
✈️ Travel
- The hotel made a sly charge for the room that wasn't mentioned during booking — classic move.
- She found a sly shortcut through the airport that cut our walking time in half.
📚 Education
- The teacher caught his sly attempt to copy answers from the person next to him.
- She made a sly reference to the textbook that only the students who actually read it would understand.
❤️ Relationships
- He gave me a sly smile across the room and I knew exactly what he was thinking.
- That was a sly dig at my cooking, wasn't it — wrapped up as a compliment but definitely a jab.
📰 News / Politics
- The politician made a sly promise that technically wasn't a lie but definitely wasn't the truth either.
- The headline was sly — technically accurate but designed to mislead people who only read the first sentence.
💻 Technology
- The app made a sly change to the privacy settings that made sharing your data the default option.
- He used a sly workaround to bypass the parental controls on his phone.
📝 Formal Writing
- The report contained a sly implication that the previous administration had mismanaged the funds.
- The author's sly critique of the methodology was buried in a footnote where most readers would never find it.