| Main Entry: | Machiavellian |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | scheming |
Synonyms: |
artful, astute, calculating, conniving, contriving, crafty, cunning, deceitful, devious, expedient, opportunist, plotting, shrewd, sly, underhanded, unscrupulous, wily |
| Main Entry: | calculating |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | scheming to manipulate |
Synonyms: |
Machiavellian, artful, canny, careful, cautious, chary, circumspect, considerate, contriving, crafty, cunning, designing, devious, discreet, gingerly, guarded, guileful, intelligent, manipulative, politic, premeditating, safe, scheming, sharp, shrewd, sly, wary, wily |
Antonyms: |
artless, naive, unassuming, uncalculating |
| Main Entry: | cunning |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | devious |
Synonyms: |
Machiavellian, acute, artful, astute, cagey, canny, crafty, crazy like fox, deep, fancy footwork, foxy, guileful, insidious, keen, knowing, sharp, shifty, shrewd, slick, slippery, sly, sly boots, smart, smarts, smooth, street-smart, streetwise, subtle, tricky, wary, wily |
Antonyms: |
gullible, kind, naive, shy |
| Main Entry: | designing |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | plotting, crafty |
Synonyms: |
Machiavellian, artful, astute, conniving, conspiring, crooked, cunning, deceitful, devious, heedful, intriguing, observant, scheming, sharp, shrewd, sly, treacherous, tricky, unscrupulous, wily |
Antonyms: |
aboveboard, artless, honest, not clever, unplanned |
| Main Entry: | insidious |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | sneaky, tricky |
Synonyms: |
Machiavellian, artful, astute, corrupt, crafty, crooked, cunning, dangerous, deceitful, deceptive, deep, designing, dishonest, disingenuous, duplicitous, ensnaring, false, foxy, guileful, intriguing, like a snake in the grass, perfidious, perilous, secret, slick, sly, smooth, snaky, sneaking, stealthy, subtle, surreptitious, treacherous, wily, wormlike |
| Notes: | insidious (Latin insidere 'to lie in wait for,' from sedere 'sit') describes stealthy, treacherous behavior; invidious behavior arouses ill will, animosity, or hostility |
Antonyms: |
fair, honest, open, sincere |
| Concept: | Cunning. |
| Category: | 2. Complex voluntary action |
Synonyms: |
-nouns
cunning, craft; cunningness, craftiness; subtlety, artificiality; maneuvering; temporization; circumvention., chicane, chicanery; sharp practice, knavery, jugglery; concealment; guile, doubling, duplicity (falsehood); foul play., diplomacy, politics; Machiavelism; jobbery, backstairs influence., art, artifice; device, machination; plot (plan); maneuver, stratagem, dodge, artful dodge, wile; trick, trickery (deception); ruse, ruse de guerre; finesse, side blow, thin end of the wedge, shift, go by, subterfuge, evasion; white lie (untruth); juggle, tour de force; tricks of the trade, tricks upon travelers; espieglerie; net, trap., Ulysses, Machiavel, sly boots, sly dog, fox, reynard; dodger, Artful Dodger [Dickens], smooth operator, sweet talker; Yankee; intriguer, intrigant; spin doctor, schemer [more].
-verbs
be cunning; have cut one's eyeteeth; contrive (plan); live by one's wits; maneuver; intrigue, gerrymander, finesse, double, temporize, stoop to conquer, reculer pour mieux sauter, circumvent, steal a march upon; overreach; throw off one's guard; surprise; snatch a verdict; waylay, undermine, introduce the thin end of the wedge; play a deep game, play tricks with; ambiguas in vulgum spargere voces; flatter, make things pleasant; have an ax to grind.
-adjectives
cunning, crafty, artful; skillful; subtle, feline, vulpine; cunning as a fox, cunning as a serpent; deep, deep laid; profound; designing, contriving; intriguing; strategic, diplomatic, politic, Machiavelian, timeserving; artificial; tricky, tricksy; wily, sly, slim, insidious, stealthy; underhand (hidden); subdolous; deceitful; crooked; arch, pawky, shrewd, acute; sharp, sharp as a needle; canny, astute, leery, knowing, up to snuff, too clever by half, not to be caught with chaff.
-adverbs
cunningly; slily, on the sly, by a side wind.
-phrases
diamond cut diamond; a' bis ou a blanc; fin contre fin; "something is rotten in the state of Denmark" [Hamlet].
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Antonyms: |
artlessness |
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