wile
/waɪl/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.62 in modern English
7
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
Misspelling of while (“to pass the time”).
name
A surname transferred from the nickname.
name
A male given name transferred from the surname.
Example Sentences
- "He was seduced by her wiles."
- "to frustrate all our plots and wiles"
- "Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you to believe me, fellow-citizens,) the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake; since history and experience prove, that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of Republican Government."
- ""Anything interesting among your letters, Geoffrey?" asked Miss Tilehurst, concealing a protective curiosity under this sociable wile, since she had already inspected the covers."
- "I don't understand this at all. First, Paige made out with me in the art room, but then she wouldn't hold my hand even though she's the one who came up with the hand-holding rule in the first place, months ago. / Ahh, tale as old as time, beautiful vixen using her wiles to scramble your brains."
- "He was good to look on, brawly dressed, and with a tongue in his head that would have wiled the bird from the tree."
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. Doublet of guile.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Usage
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in People.