Guileful

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Characterized by cunning deception and deliberate trickery intended to mislead or manipulate others
2. Defined by a skillful and calculated use of deceit and trickery to gain an upper hand, showcasing cleverness and manipulation toward others
3. Marked by shrewd craftiness and sly deceit designed to achieve personal advantage

Etymology: "Guileful" is a plain compound: "guile" plus the suffix "-ful", which turns a noun into an adjective meaning "full of" or "characterised by" the noun. The noun "guile" came into English from Old French "guile" (also "gile"), a word of Germanic origin, so the adjective is simply a sum of a borrowed noun and a native English suffix. Its earliest form in English was Middle English "gileful" or "gilful", with the same sense it carries now: full of guile, given to craft and deceit. The word thus describes a person whose cleverness is turned toward trickery rather than honest dealing, and the spelling "guile" with a "u" reflects its French route, which kept the sound of a hard "g" before the "i".

Synonyms: cunning, sly, deceitful, crafty, wily

Antonyms: naive, honest, genuine, straightforward, trustworthy