Sly and Underhanded

Sly

Sly adjective - Clever at attaining one's ends by indirect and often deceptive means.
Usage example: the movie pairs a sly, dissembling ex-con with an upstanding, straight-arrow cop

Underhanded is a synonym for sly in character trait topic. In some cases you can use "Underhanded" instead an adjective "Sly", when it comes to topics like crafty, perverse, dishonest.

Nearby Words: slyness, slyly

Underhanded

Underhanded adjective - Given to or marked by cheating and deception.
Usage example: the commercial is a part of an underhanded PR campaign to whitewash the company's environmental record

Sly is a synonym for underhanded in character trait topic. You can use "Sly" instead an adjective "Underhanded", if it concerns topics such as crafty, perverse, secret, deceitful.

Nearby Word: underhand

Both words in one sentence

  • Franchise / Sly Cooper This is lampshaded a couple times in the third game when Sly comments Bentley on the latter's growing experience with underhanded tactics.
Cite this Source
Underhanded and Sly. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 21, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/sly/underhanded
Sly & Underhanded. N.p., 2016. Web. 21 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/sly/underhanded>.
Underhanded or Sly. 2016. Accessed July 21, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/sly/underhanded.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "sly" and "underhanded" have occurred on timeline