knavish
1
9.9
- adjective
- /ˈneɪvɪʃ/
- Offensive
:
ruín
- The novel's villain is a knavish character who uses cunning plans to achieve his goals.
- a knavish piece of work
- a knavish piece
Examples
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Her knavish scheme to steal the prize money left many people feeling betrayed.
-
Their herald is a pretty knavish page.
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'Tis a knavish piece of work, but what of that?
-
Cupid is a knavish lad, thus to make poor females mad.
-
For Catholic or Protestant, Machiavelli came to stand for "the Other One" and his knavish tricks.
Academic text (1993) -
Either I mistake your shape and making quite, or else you are that shrewd and knavish sprite called Robin Goodfellow.
-
Either I mistake your shape and making quite, or else you are that shrewd and knavish sprite call'd Robin goodfellow:
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The logic, probably knavish, being posited is that the two-party fascists have static power that is invincible, if only because of their electoral structure.
Blog text (33) -
It is true that jesters are the wisest of people, but it is no less true that theirs is a knavish wisdom.
Fiction book (2000) -
Enlightenment should be kept from avaricious sellers or buyers, knavish mercenaries that hope to mortgage humanity's consignment.
Fiction book (1991)
Synonyms
128
2.5
Likely to lie or cheat to get something for yourself
101
4.4
Acting in a secret way to avoid being noticed or to get an advantage
51
6.4
Acting in a dishonest or tricky way to get what you want
47
4.5
Good at using clever tricks to get what you want
43
5.1
Clever at getting things by tricking people
38
7.1
Likely to betray you, for example by lying or breaking promises
31
4.9
Being clever in a secret way to trick others
26
4.5
Uses lies or clever plans to get what they want
20
6.9
Clever in a sly or secret way to hide what you really mean
19
6.9
A person or animal that uses clever tricks to get what they want
17
7.4
A look or behavior that seems dishonest and hard to trust
4
8.4
A person who acts sneaky and dishonest to avoid clear answers
3
8.8
Clever in a dishonest way to trick people
3
8.2
Being clever at secretly tricking people for personal gain
1
9.1
Behaving in a sly way that tries to fool people
1
8.9
A person or plan that tricks people to get what they want
Acting in a secret, sly way to try to trick people
Antonyms
How Deceitful
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Knavish comes from knave, a word that came to mean 'a dishonest or tricky person', plus the ending -ish. So, knavish means 'tricky' or 'given to cheating', which is why a knavish smile shows someone up to something clever but dishonest.