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guile

English

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guile¹

  • /ɡaɪl/

Rhymes with -aɪl

Where it comes from

From Middle English gile, from Anglo-Norman gile, from Old French guile (“deception”), from Frankish *wīl (“ruse”), from Proto-Germanic *wīlą, from Proto-Indo-European *wey- (“to turn, bend”). Cognate via Proto-Germanic with wile.

noun guiles

  1. uncountable Astuteness often marked by a certain sense of cunning or artful deception. It was a result that owed a lot to a moment of guile from Ramires but more to a display of guts from the Brazilian and his team-mates after Terry's needless dismissal eight minutes before half-time for driving a knee into the back of Alexis Sanchez off the ball.
  2. countable, uncountable Deceptiveness, deceit, fraud, duplicity, dishonesty. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!

verb guiles · guiling · guiled

  1. To deceive, beguile, bewile. Who means no guile, be guiled soonest shall

guile²

Where it comes from

Variant forms.

noun

  1. obsolete Obsolete form of gold
  2. alternative Alternative form of gyle […] a curdly, yeasty head on a Guile of Beer.

Guile³

Where it comes from

* As an English, Scottish, and French surname, borrowed from French guile.

* Also as an English surname, variant of Gill.

* Possibly also Americanized from the German surname Geil.

proper noun Guiles

  1. A surname from French.

Translations

Every language

noun astuteness, cunning

Españolastucia
中文詭計 /诡计 guǐjì
Portuguêsastúcia
Françaisruse, fourberie
DeutschGerissenheit, Hinterhältigkeit
Italianoastuzia, inganno, frode
Русскийхи́трость xítrostʹ, кова́рство kovárstvo

noun deceptiveness, deceit, fraud, duplicity, dishonesty

Españoltrampa, engaño
Françaistromperie
DeutschHinterlist, Täuschung, Betrug
Русскийобман obman, вероломство verolomstvo

verb to deceive, to beguile

中文欺騙 /欺骗 qīpiàn, 欺瞞 /欺瞒 qīmán
Françaistromper, entourlouper
Deutschirreleiten, irreführen
Italianoingannare, turlupinare
Русскийобма́нывать obmányvatʹ, обману́ть obmanútʹ

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Cite this
MLA

"guile." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/guile. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

guile. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/guile

Chicago

"guile." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/guile.

BibTeX
@misc{guile_2026,
  title = {guile},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/guile},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}