pawky

adjective

Definition of pawkynext
chiefly British
as in cunning

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for pawky
  1. cunning
  2. sly
  3. wily
  4. subtle
  5. shrewd
  6. guileful
  7. astute
  8. artful
Adjective
  • Magpies are opportunistic scavengers, incredibly cunning and deceitful and capable of calculated deception.
    — Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 28 Sep. 2026
  • Last week, Alan Cumming’s cunning competition empire The Traitors unsheathed its most diabolical twist yet.
    — Rebecca Alter, Vulture, 24 Sep. 2026
Definition of cunning
Adjective
  • Upon hearing what Hafley said about him, a sly grin spread across his face.
    — Miami Herald, Miami Herald, 8 Oct. 2026
  • But the sly, observant film inches toward other sources of Tor’s disapproval of the trip.
    — Lé Baltar, IndieWire, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of sly
Adjective
  • The movie was initially teased with a wily fake relationship.
    — Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 23 Sep. 2026
  • The Italian champions’ addition of Three Lions — England internationals John Stones, Curtis Jones and Djed Spence — is aimed at bringing more dynamism to a wily group who have reached two Champions League finals in four years.
    — James Horncastle, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of wily
Adjective
  • Poindexter featured his three daughters in his first campaign advertisement for the general election, taking a subtle dig at Miller.
    — Lauren Green, The Washington Examiner, 7 Oct. 2026
  • Later still, we are introduced to Satoko Iijima (Ishida), who again shares many defining features with her two namesakes, albeit with just enough subtle differences to keep the audience on the back foot.
    — James Marsh, Variety, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of subtle
Adjective
  • In another shrewd move from Neon, the studio announced that when Oscar season rolls around, Borisov will be running in the lead-actor category and Garfield in supporting alongside Rylance and Barbaro.
    — Chris Murphy, Vanity Fair, 6 Oct. 2026
  • As an adolescent, Winston could hardly have imagined the cascading effect of his shrewd eye for color and clarity.
    — Paige Reddinger, Robb Report, 3 Oct. 2026
Definition of shrewd
Adjective
  • Bruno Guimaraes and Lucas Paqueta played guileful defence-splitting passes.
    — James Horncastle, New York Times, 20 June 2026
  • One is to emphasize Iago—the guileful, insinuating convincingness of this malicious supervillain, who works on Othello to the point where any reasonable man would be deceived and fooled and worked into a rage that can lead to such a catastrophe.
    — David Frum, The Atlantic, 17 June 2026
Definition of guileful
Adjective
  • One of the grid’s most astute late-nineteenth-century critics, the geologist John Wesley Powell, decried its environmental recklessness.
    — Daniel Immerwahr, New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2026
  • As some astute readers have pointed out, Gen has piled up a lot of dirty laundry this season.
    — Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 22 Sep. 2026
Definition of astute
Adjective
  • Some are simply for those who want to hide ugly rental apartment floors with a bold colorway or an artful pattern.
    — Elly Leavitt, Vogue, 1 Oct. 2026
  • Elevated flats dominate for day, while statement heels confirm that sculptural, artful footwear is officially back.
    — Samantha Conti, Footwear News, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of artful
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

pawing
pawky
pawn
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Cite this Entry

“Pawky.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pawky. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

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