guile.

Cleverness used to deceive or manipulate others.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• without guile
• practiced guile

On the page

He answered without guile, which made her rehearsed suspicion feel cruel.

Practiced guile guided every compliment in the letter.

Usage notes

Primary category: psychological / character. Forms: Usually uncountable. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings.