wile

wile

W0157700 (wīl)n.1. A stratagem or trick intended to deceive or ensnare.2. A disarming or seductive manner, device, or procedure: the wiles of a skilled negotiator.tr.v. wiled, wil·ing, wiles 1. To influence or lead by means of wiles; entice: "Could the Erl-king's Daughter have revealed herself to me ... she might have wiled me by the hand into the dimmest forests upon earth" (Thomas De Quincey).2. To pass (time) agreeably: wile away a Sunday afternoon.

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[Middle English wil, from Old North French, from Old Norse vēl, trick, or of Low German origin. V., sense 2, influenced by while.]Synonyms: wile, artifice, trick, ruse, feint, stratagem, maneuver, dodge
These nouns denote means for achieving an end by indirection or deviousness. Wile suggests deceiving and entrapping a victim by playing on his or her weak points: "Eve yielded to the wiles of the arch tempter" (James Joyce).
Artifice refers to something especially contrived to create a desired effect: "Should the public forgive artifices used to avoid military service?" (Godfrey Sperling).
Trick implies willful deception: "The ... boys ... had all sorts of tricks to prevent us from winning" (W.H. Hudson).
Ruse stresses the creation of a false impression: "It is perfidy to use a flag of truce as a ruse to acquire military information or to play for time to retreat" (Thaddeus Holt).
Feint denotes a deceptive act calculated to distract attention from one's real purpose: "Rob ... sat staring at him, and affecting to snivel with sympathy, and making a feint of being virtuous, and treasuring up every word he said (like a young spy as he was) with very promising deceit" (Charles Dickens).
Stratagem implies carefully planned deception used to achieve an objective: "He was ... daring in the administrative stratagems he employed to bring himself to the attention of his superiors" (Joseph Heller).
Maneuver and dodge stress shifty and ingenious deception: "[He] was being accused of shady banking maneuvers and abusing his influence for his own financial gain" (Porter Shreve)."At my age one has had a considerable experience of the ins and outs, the dodges that accompany self-interest" (Saul Bellow).

wile

(waɪl) n1. trickery, cunning, or craftiness2. (usually plural) an artful or seductive trick or ployvb (tr) to lure, beguile, or entice[C12: from Old Norse vel craft; probably related to Old French wīle, Old English wīgle magic. See guile]

wile

(waɪl)

n., v. wiled, wil•ing. n. 1. a trick, artifice, or stratagem meant to fool, trap, or entice. 2. wiles, artful or beguiling behavior. 3. deceitful cunning; trickery. v.t. 4. to beguile, entice, or lure (usu. fol. by away, from, into, etc.): The music wiled him from his study. 5. wile away, to spend or pass (time), esp. in a leisurely or pleasurable fashion. [1125–75; (n.) Middle English; late Old English wil]

wile

Past participle: wiled
Gerund: wiling

Imperative
wile
wile

Present
I wile
you wile
he/she/it wiles
we wile
you wile
they wile

Preterite
I wiled
you wiled
he/she/it wiled
we wiled
you wiled
they wiled

Present Continuous
I am wiling
you are wiling
he/she/it is wiling
we are wiling
you are wiling
they are wiling

Present Perfect
I have wiled
you have wiled
he/she/it has wiled
we have wiled
you have wiled
they have wiled

Past Continuous
I was wiling
you were wiling
he/she/it was wiling
we were wiling
you were wiling
they were wiling

Past Perfect
I had wiled
you had wiled
he/she/it had wiled
we had wiled
you had wiled
they had wiled

Future
I will wile
you will wile
he/she/it will wile
we will wile
you will wile
they will wile

Future Perfect
I will have wiled
you will have wiled
he/she/it will have wiled
we will have wiled
you will have wiled
they will have wiled

Future Continuous
I will be wiling
you will be wiling
he/she/it will be wiling
we will be wiling
you will be wiling
they will be wiling

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been wiling
you have been wiling
he/she/it has been wiling
we have been wiling
you have been wiling
they have been wiling

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been wiling
you will have been wiling
he/she/it will have been wiling
we will have been wiling
you will have been wiling
they will have been wiling

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been wiling
you had been wiling
he/she/it had been wiling
we had been wiling
you had been wiling
they had been wiling

Conditional
I would wile
you would wile
he/she/it would wile
we would wile
you would wile
they would wile

Past Conditional
I would have wiled
you would have wiled
he/she/it would have wiled
we would have wiled
you would have wiled
they would have wiled

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

wile - the use of tricks to deceive someone (usually to extract money from them)chicanery, shenanigan, trickery, guile, chicanedissimulation, deception, dissembling, deceit - the act of deceivingdupery, hoax, put-on, humbug, fraud, fraudulence - something intended to deceive; deliberate trickery intended to gain an advantagejugglery - artful trickery designed to achieve an end; "the senator's tax program was mere jugglery"

wile

nounAn indirect, usually cunning means of gaining an end:artifice, deception, device, dodge, feint, gimmick, imposture, jig, maneuver, ploy, ruse, sleight, stratagem, subterfuge, trick.Informal: shenanigan, take-in.verbTo pass (time) without working or in avoiding work.Also used with away:dawdle (away), fiddle away, idle (away), kill, trifle away, waste, while (away).

Translations

artifice