guile
1
the use of tricks, tactics, or intentionally misleading behaviors aimed at deceiving others for self-interested purposes
- Politicians often rely on guile like spin and rhetoric to portray their opponents' policies in a negative light.
- On the exam, some students resorted to guile like cheating tactics like hiding notes or copying others' answers.
- During the Cold War, spies engaged in guile through tactics like spreading misinformation.
Synonyms:
2
an artful cleverness used to perform trickery, deception, and manipulation
- As a con artist, guile and deception came naturally to him.
- During negotiations, the team had to match the other side's guile in order to gain an advantage.
- It took considerable guile for the spy to extract secrets from suspects without arousing suspicion.
- The villain used guile to deceive the hero and take the treasure.
- Her guile was obvious when she manipulated the situation to get what she wanted.