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Wile vs Wileful - What's the difference?

wile | wileful |

As a noun wile

is wila, black tree lichen (edible lichen).

As an adjective wileful is

full of wiles; deceitful.

wile

English

(Webster 1913)

Noun

(en noun)
  • (usually, in the plural) A trick or stratagem practiced for ensnaring or deception; a sly, insidious artifice
    • He was seduced by her wiles .
  • * Milton
    • to frustrate all our plots and wiles

    Synonyms

    * beguilement * allurement

    Related terms

    * guile * wily

    Verb

    (wil)
  • To entice or lure
  • , "to pass the time".
    • Here's a pleasant way to wile away the hours.

    Usage notes

    The phrase meaning to pass time idly is while away''. We can trace the meaning in an adjectival sense for while back to Old English, hw?len — ''passing, transitory''. We also see it in the whilend — ''temporary, transitory''. But since ''wile away occurs so often, it is now included in many dictionaries.

    References

    * Grammarist.com While away or wile away? * Common Errors in the English Language Wile Away, While Away ----

    wileful

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Full of wiles; deceitful.
    • (Webster 1913)