guile

IPA/ɡaɪl/
KK[ɡˈaɪl]IPA/ɡaɪl/

guile — noun

1. smart, calculating behaviour aimed at misleading or outwitting other people — of

1.nounC1
Definition

smart, calculating behaviour aimed at misleading or outwitting other people — often through flattery, half-truths, or staged charm rather than open lies.

Example

Eitan used guile to talk the old farmer into selling the land for half its value.

use guile to + infinitive

The young fox relied on guile rather than strength to steal eggs from the henhouse.

rely on guile rather than [quality]

Common collocations
  • use guile
  • rely on guile
  • by guile
  • sheer guile
  • political guile
  • charm and guile
  • without guile
Synonyms
  • cunning

    very close synonym; slightly more neutral and more common in everyday speech.

  • craftiness

    more negative; emphasises sneaky scheming rather than smart manoeuvring.

  • duplicity

    stronger; specifically about saying one thing and doing another.

  • wiles

    plural countable; usually refers to small tricks, often charming or flirtatious ones.

Antonyms
  • candour

    open, straightforward honesty — the opposite quality.

  • naivety

    lack of the worldly cleverness that makes guile possible.

Grammar Patterns

use guile to do something

by guile

Usage Note

Uncountable: never used with 'a' or in the plural ('a guile', 'guiles' are both wrong). Often paired with 'cunning', 'charm', or 'wit' in lists describing how someone gets their way.

Common Mistakes

She tricked him with a guile.
She tricked him with guile.
'guile' is uncountable; no article.
The thief used many guiles.
The thief used many tricks' or 'used a lot of guile.
no plural form.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words describe clever, dishonest behaviour, but they sit on different parts of the moral and social scale. 'Cunning' is the broadest and most neutral — a fox, a child, or a clever negotiator can all be 'cunning' without sounding villainous. 'Guile' is more formal and literary; it suggests calm, strategic deceit, often carried out with a smile, and is common in writing about politics or fiction ('won the throne by guile'). 'Craftiness' tips clearly negative — it implies sneaky, small-scale scheming, the kind of person who quietly arranges things behind your back. 'Duplicity' is the strongest accusation: a duplicitous person says one thing and does the opposite, betraying trust. So you might say a candidate won the election 'by guile and charm', call a child 'cunning' for hiding the cookies, but reserve 'duplicity' for a partner who has been secretly leading a double life.

guile ↗cunning ↗craftiness ↗duplicity ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • charm and guile
  • cunning and guile
  • political guile
  • low guile

Phrases

  • a man / woman of guile
  • free from guile
  • to use guile to (do)

Prepositions

  • by guile
  • through guile
  • with guile
  • without guile

Etymology

GermanicOld FrenchMiddle EnglishEnglish

Borrowed into Middle English around the 12th century from Old French 'guile' meaning trickery or deceit, which came from a Germanic source related to Old English 'wīle' (a trick, the ancestor of modern 'wile'). The word kept its old, slightly literary flavour: today it still sounds more formal than 'cunning' and is much more common in writing than in casual speech.