sly as a fox
Wily and cunning
Sly as a fox describes someone cunning, crafty, or cleverly deceptive.
Foxes have long been associated with trickery in folklore and fables—the animal that outsmarts hunters and steals from henhouses.
The phrase usually carries grudging admiration rather than outright condemnation: He played dumb, but he's sly as a fox.
Skilled at deception
- craftyCleverly deceptive
- shrewdPractically clever, perceptive
- schemingCrafty and calculating
- calculatingColdly self-serving in strategy
conniving · artful · cagey · devious · sneaky · stealthy · subtle · manipulative
Showing mental quickness
- intelligentHaving mental acuity
- ingeniousCleverly original in design
- quick-wittedFast at thinking
- resourcefulSkilled at solving problems
sharp · keen · savvy · perceptive · brainy · inventive · nimble · adroit
Cunning deceiver in myth
- deceiverOne who tricks others
- con artistProfessional fraud perpetrator
- charlatanFaker claiming false expertise
- impostorOne feigning another's identity
fraud · hoax · disguise · duplicitous · deceitful · misleading · swindle · phony
wily
Skilled at deception
calculating · conniving · artful · cagey · devious · sneaky · stealthy · subtle · manipulative · underhanded
vulpine
Resembling a fox
paws · fur · predator · cunning · burrow · vixen · kits · brush · forest · wildlife
clever
Showing mental quickness
- intelligentHaving mental acuity
- ingeniousCleverly original in design
- quick-wittedFast at thinking
resourceful · sharp · keen · savvy · perceptive · brainy · inventive · nimble · adroit · smart
trickster
Cunning deceiver in myth
- deceiverOne who tricks others
- con artistProfessional fraud perpetrator
- charlatanFaker claiming false expertise
impostor · fraud · hoax · disguise · duplicitous · deceitful · misleading · swindle · phony · pretense
trick
Deliberate deception
scheme · maneuver · subterfuge · artifice · stratagem · wile · intrigue · machination · plot · trap
sly as a foxguileless
Free from deceit
artless · ingenuous · straightforward · candid · sincere
sly as a foxnaive
Innocently unsuspecting
innocent · gullible · born yesterday · wet behind the ears · unsophisticated
sly as a foxdumb as a post
Profoundly unintelligent person
slow-witted · thick as a brick · dense · obtuse · dim
sly, fox, foxy, foxes, slyness, slyly, outfox, outfoxed, foxing