wile
Plural: wiles
Noun
- the use of tricks to deceive someone (usually to extract money from them)
- A trick or stratagem practiced for ensnaring or deception; a sly, insidious artifice
Verb
Verb Forms: wiled, wiling, wiles
- To entice or lure someone, often deceptively.
- To entice or lure.
- Misspelling of while (“to pass the time”).
Examples
- He was seduced by her wiles.
- Here's a pleasant way to wile away the hours.
- She tried to wile her opponent into a trap, setting up a bonus square for her next move.
Origin / Etymology
From Middle English wile, wyle, from Old Northern French wile (“guile”) and Old English wīl (“wile, trick”) and wiġle (“divination”), from Proto-Germanic *wīlą (“craft, deceit”) (from Proto-Indo-European *wey- (“to turn, bend”)) and Proto-Germanic *wigulą, *wihulą (“prophecy”) (from Proto-Indo-European *weyk- (“to consecrate, hallow, make holy”)). Cognate with Icelandic vél, væl (“artifice, craft, device, fraud, trick”), Dutch wijle.
Synonyms
chicane, chicanery, guile, shenanigan, trickery, allurement, beguilement
Scrabble Score: 7
wile: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordwile: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
wile: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary