vulpine
1
9.9
- adjective
- /ˈvʌlpaɪn/
:
zorruno
- Zack flashed me a vulpine smile, as if he were plotting something clever.
- vulpine face
Examples
-
Lean and muscular with a vulpine grin, he endears himself to the group at camp by producing an axe and chopping firewood like a frontiersman.
Academic text (2009) -
He'd always reminded Alexander of a spider, except for the vulpine smile and cold little eyes.
Fiction book (2002) -
Sean turned to her—a vulpine older woman.
Fiction book (1999) -
That wind was vulpine, more treacherous than a woodland thunderstorm, more than the side of a tornado.
Fiction book (1990) -
Before confession, we prayed for guidance so that we might disclose all of our sins to the darkly hidden, vulpine shadow within.
Fiction book (2001) -
This holds true, for example, for the five-inch-long pouched dormouse and the vulpine opossum.
Fiction book (1995) -
Her vulpine features suggested a cleverness that intrigued everyone around her.
-
With a vulpine cunning, he managed to outsmart his competitors during the game.
Synonyms
3
8.2
Being clever at secretly tricking people for personal gain
Having the look or behavior of a fox
How Foxlike
1
9.9
Surface Forms
Morphology
vulpine = vulp + ine
The adjective is formed from the Latin combining form 'vulp-' plus the suffix '-ine'; because the base is not a standalone English word and does not resemble 'fox', learners who know 'fox' will not reliably infer the meaning.
Etymology
Vulpine comes from the Latin vulpes, which means 'fox', so vulpine simply means 'fox-like'. That's why we call a smile, face, or action vulpine when it seems 'sly' or clever like a fox.