1
as in cunning
clever at attaining one's ends by indirect and often deceptive means
tried to fix the game with a guileful plot to sabotage the other team's bats, but the umpire caught them
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in deceptive
given to or marked by cheating and deception
received a guileful answer when I asked the dealer if the used car had ever been in a collision
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for guileful
Adjective
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Dano’s static line delivery gets used for a chilling but laconic effect as his character’s cunning political negotiations lead to deadly outcomes.—
Randy Myers,
Mercury News,
13 May 2026 -
There’s arguably no one better placed to collaborate with VFX artists on a motion-capture performance than Serkis, who’s delivered innocence, cunning, cruelty, longing, and kindness in roles that run from Golum to Caesar to King Kong himself.—
Sarah Shachat,
IndieWire,
4 May 2026
Adjective
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The Request for Investigation, shared exclusively with Fortune ahead of its public filing on Wednesday, alleges that Roblox is violating Section 5 of the FTC Act through unfair and deceptive practices.—
Catherina Gioino,
Fortune,
20 May 2026
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That fueled the storyline that Valerie would be the only person actually working on the show who knows the scripts are being written by AI, reflecting how careful, and in some cases, downright deceptive, those in Hollywood are in revealing their use of AI.—
Chris O'Falt,
IndieWire,
19 May 2026
Adjective
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Even though saying goodbye to my favorite boots for the season is always a little bittersweet, there are so many cute styles that make the switch seamless—and fun.—
Annie Blackman,
InStyle,
23 May 2026
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The new Huawei smartwatch has a larger display, a ceramic-like metal finish on the White model, and an all-new mini workout mode, which unlocks cute panda watch faces!—
Prakhar Khanna,
Forbes.com,
23 May 2026
Adjective
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As fraudulent accounts and collections are removed, your credit score should begin to recover.—
Miranda Marquit,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
14 May 2026
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Upon being taken into custody, officials said Werstine confessed to his true identity after he was allegedly found with fraudulent documentation and admitted to entering Panama illegally in 2005.—
Julia Bonavita,
FOXNews.com,
14 May 2026
Adjective
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Gary, meanwhile, is a creature of the city in slick suits and a Mercedes, a divorced former cop who now leverages his old connections for vague, lucrative work that may not ever cross over into the explicitly illicit, but that definitely involves shades of gray.—
Alison Willmore,
Vulture,
17 May 2026
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Underfoot, the grippy Vibram outsole delivers reliable traction on everything from loose gravel to slick roots.—
Francesca Krempa,
Travel + Leisure,
16 May 2026
Adjective
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The company is also developing Blood Aces, which will see Stallone and Yellowstone star Cole Hauser team to produce, with Hauser attached to star as shady casino operator Benny Binion.—
Matt Grobar,
Deadline,
19 May 2026
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Mahonia is an evergreen shrub with intricate leaf texture that infuses movement into shady spaces.—
Madeline Buiano,
Martha Stewart,
19 May 2026
Adjective
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She was left to ponder empty dresser drawers and piece together the subtle clues of their final days together.—
Miami Herald Archives,
Miami Herald,
20 May 2026
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The photo reveals subtle imperfections in the arc of the moon's crescent, created as sunlight fell on craters and broken terrain lining the shadowy divide separating night from day on the lunar surface.—
Anthony Wood,
Space.com,
20 May 2026
Adjective
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Davis gave up the first run of the game, a 412-foot solo home run by Cameron Gurney in the top of the fourth inning, that was followed by a double that could have started a crooked inning for the Utes, but Davis picked off the runner at second base.—
Lawrence Dow,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
9 May 2026
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Giuliani was elected New York’s mayor in 1993 after serving as one of the nation’s highest-profile prosecutors, taking on mobsters and crooked Wall Street traders.—
Michael R. Sisak,
Chicago Tribune,
4 May 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Guileful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/guileful. Accessed 24 May. 2026.
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