guile
Sly manipulation skill
Guile is cunning or craftiness, especially in deceiving others.
It suggests shrewd manipulation rather than brute force: She used guile to outmaneuver her opponents.
Someone without guile is straightforward and honest, perhaps naively so.
The word carries a slightly literary flavor and often implies admiration for cleverness alongside moral suspicion.
Deliberate misleading of others
- fraudIntentional criminal trickery
- duplicityDeliberate misleading behavior
- trickeryDeliberate deception or fraud
- hoaxDeliberate deception for effect
swindle · con · scam · imposture · hoodwink · bamboozle · charlatan · sham
Sly, scheming cleverness
- slynessCunning in manner
- artificeClever deceptive strategy
- shrewdnessKeen practical judgment
- wilinessShrewd deceptive cleverness
foxiness · deviousness · caginess · astuteness · scheming · conniving · duplicity · chicanery
Subtle, deft handling
- nuanceSlight shade of difference
- artfulnessClever, crafty skill
- sophisticationCultured elegance and complexity
- delicacyRefined sensitivity or rarity
indirection · understatement · diplomacy · tact · discretion · insinuation · obliqueness · slyness
Methods to achieve goals
- schemingCrafty and calculating
- plottingDevising a secret plan
- maneuveringSkillful directional control
- calculationMathematical problem-solving process
planning · gamesmanship · stratagem · ploy · gambit · subterfuge · machination · outmaneuvering
Convincing through reasoning
- coercionPressured compliance through threats
- exploitationSelfish use of others
- influencePower to affect others
- maneuveringSkillful directional control
scheming · wheedling · finagling · cajoling · insinuation · machination · puppeteering · engineering
deceit
Deliberate misleading of others
- fraudIntentional criminal trickery
- duplicityDeliberate misleading behavior
- trickeryDeliberate deception or fraud
hoax · swindle · con · scam · imposture · hoodwink · bamboozle · charlatan · sham · feint
cunning
Sly, scheming cleverness
- slynessCunning in manner
- artificeClever deceptive strategy
- shrewdnessKeen practical judgment
wiliness · foxiness · deviousness · caginess · astuteness · scheming · conniving · duplicity · chicanery · skullduggery
finesse
Subtle, deft handling
- nuanceSlight shade of difference
- artfulnessClever, crafty skill
- sophisticationCultured elegance and complexity
delicacy · indirection · understatement · diplomacy · tact · discretion · insinuation · obliqueness · slyness · deftness
tactics
Methods to achieve goals
- schemingCrafty and calculating
- plottingDevising a secret plan
- maneuveringSkillful directional control
calculation · planning · gamesmanship · stratagem · ploy · gambit · subterfuge · machination · outmaneuvering · outwitting
persuasion
Convincing through reasoning
- coercionPressured compliance through threats
- exploitationSelfish use of others
- influencePower to affect others
maneuvering · scheming · wheedling · finagling · cajoling · insinuation · machination · puppeteering · engineering · orchestrating
guileguilelessness
Absence of cunning
artlessness · ingenuousness · naivety · innocence · simplicity
guileintegrity
Moral soundness and consistency
uprightness · virtuousness · righteousness · probity · trustworthiness
guilehonesty
Truthfulness, sincerity
candor · sincerity · forthrightness · frankness · directness
beguile, guileless, beguiling, guileful, beguiled, beguiler, beguilement, guiles, beguilers