HomeServicesBlogDictionariesContactSpanish Course
Home › Dictionary › English › by the sly
← Back to search

Meaning of by the sly | Babel Free

Adverb CEFR C1

Definitions

on the sly

dated, not-comparable

Examples

“I read⟳ Plutarch, and Shakespeare, and Don Quixote by the sly, and supplied myself in that way with wandering thoughts, while my tutor was assuring me that "an improved man, as distinguished from an ignorant one, was a man who knew the reason⟳ why water ran downhill."”

CEFR level

C1
Advanced
This word is part of the CEFR C1 vocabulary — advanced level.
See all C1 English words →

See also

by the way by thunder by-and-by by'm-by byembye Byronically

Learn this word in context

See by the sly used in real conversations inside our free language course.

Start Free Course

Know this word better than we do? Language is a living thing — help us keep it growing. Collaborate with Babel Free