guile Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun shrewdness as demonstrated by being skilled in deception
    craft; slyness; foxiness; craftiness; wiliness; cunning.
  2. noun the quality of being crafty
    craftiness; deceitfulness.
  3. noun the use of tricks to deceive someone (usually to extract money from them)
    chicanery; trickery; chicane; wile; shenanigan.

WordNet

Guile noun
Etymology
OE. guile, gile, OF. guile; of German origin, and the same word as E. wile. See Wile.
Definitions
  1. Craft; deceitful cunning; artifice; duplicity; wile; deceit; treachery.
    Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile. John i. 47.
    To wage by force or guile eternal war. Milton.
Guile transitive verb
Etymology
OF. guiler. See Guile, n.
Definitions
  1. To disguise or conceal; to deceive or delude. Obs. Spenser.

Webster 1913