Sly vs Zealous - What's the difference?
sly | zealous |
Artfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily.
Dexterous in performing an action, so as to escape notice; nimble; skillful; cautious; shrewd; knowing; — in a good sense.
Done with, and marked by, artful and dexterous secrecy; subtle; as, a sly trick.
Light or delicate; slight; thin.
Slyly.
Full of zeal; ardent, fervent; exhibiting enthusiasm or strong passion.
* 1791 , , volume 1, page 238:
* 1896 , , A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom (2004 edition), page 122:
* 1940 , Foster Rhea Dulles, America Learns to Play: A history of popular recreation, 1607-1940 , page 61:
* 2011 April 4, "
As adjectives the difference between sly and zealous
is that sly is artfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily while zealous is full of zeal; ardent, fervent; exhibiting enthusiasm or strong passion.As an adverb sly
is slyly.sly
English
(Webster 1913)Alternative forms
* (l) (obsolete)Adjective
Synonyms
* artful * cunning * knowing * sharp * crafty * shrewd * shifty * sly as a fox * slim * wily * See alsoDerived terms
* sly as a fox * slyboots * slynessExternal links
* *Adverb
Anagrams
* ----zealous
English
Alternative forms
* zelousAdjective
(en adjective)- Johnson was truly zealous for the success of "The Adventurer;" and very soon after his engaging in it, he wrote the following letter:
- Doubtless many will exclaim against the Roman Catholic Church for this; but the simple truth is that Protestantism was no less zealous against the new scientific doctrine.
- and there were few more zealous dancers at the fashionable balls in the Raleigh Tavern at Williamsburg.
Newt Gingrich," Time (retrieved 9 Sept 2013):
- Newt Gingrich . . . left Congress in 1998, following GOP midterm-election losses that many blamed on his zealous pursuit of Bill Clinton's impeachment.