TRICKY Synonyms: 152 Similar and Opposite Words

Q: How is the word 'tricky' distinct from other similar adjectives?

Some common synonyms of tricky are artful , crafty , cunning , foxy , slick , sly , and wily . While all these words mean "attaining or seeking to attain one's ends by guileful or devious means," tricky is more likely to suggest shiftiness and unreliability than skill in deception and maneuvering. // a tricky political operative

Q: When can 'artful' be used instead of 'tricky'?

While the synonyms artful and tricky are close in meaning, artful implies indirectness in dealing and often connotes sophistication or cleverness. // elicited the information by artful questioning

Q: When is it sensible to use 'crafty' instead of 'tricky'?

While in some cases nearly identical to tricky , crafty implies cleverness and subtlety of method. // a crafty lefthander

Q: When might 'cunning' be a better fit than 'tricky'?

The words cunning and tricky can be used in similar contexts, but cunning suggests the inventive use of sometimes limited intelligence in overreaching or circumventing. // the cunning fox avoided the trap

Q: When would 'foxy' be a good substitute for 'tricky'?

The synonyms foxy and tricky are sometimes interchangeable, but foxy implies a shrewd and wary craftiness usually involving devious dealing. // a foxy publicity man planting stories

Q: When is 'slick' a more appropriate choice than 'tricky'?

In some situations, the words slick and tricky are roughly equivalent. However, slick emphasizes smoothness and guile. // slick operators selling time-sharing

Q: When could 'sly' be used to replace 'tricky'?

The words sly and tricky are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, sly implies furtiveness, lack of candor, and skill in concealing one's aims and methods. // a sly corporate raider

Q: Where would 'wily' be a reasonable alternative to 'tricky'?

The meanings of wily and tricky largely overlap; however, wily implies skill and deception in maneuvering. // the wily fugitive escaped the posse

tricky

adjective

ˈtri-kē

Definition of tricky

as in difficult

requiring exceptional skill or caution in performance or handling a tricky musical passage for the woodwind section

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in cunning

clever at attaining one's ends by indirect and often deceptive means he's a tricky one, so be careful when dealing with him

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Synonym Chooser

How is the word tricky distinct from other similar adjectives?

Some common synonyms of tricky are artful, crafty, cunning, foxy, slick, sly, and wily. While all these words mean "attaining or seeking to attain one's ends by guileful or devious means," tricky is more likely to suggest shiftiness and unreliability than skill in deception and maneuvering.

a tricky political operative

When can artful be used instead of tricky?

While the synonyms artful and tricky are close in meaning, artful implies indirectness in dealing and often connotes sophistication or cleverness.

elicited the information by artful questioning

When is it sensible to use crafty instead of tricky?

While in some cases nearly identical to tricky, crafty implies cleverness and subtlety of method.

a crafty lefthander

When might cunning be a better fit than tricky?

The words cunning and tricky can be used in similar contexts, but cunning suggests the inventive use of sometimes limited intelligence in overreaching or circumventing.

the cunning fox avoided the trap

When would foxy be a good substitute for tricky?

The synonyms foxy and tricky are sometimes interchangeable, but foxy implies a shrewd and wary craftiness usually involving devious dealing.

a foxy publicity man planting stories

When is slick a more appropriate choice than tricky?

In some situations, the words slick and tricky are roughly equivalent. However, slick emphasizes smoothness and guile.

slick operators selling time-sharing

When could sly be used to replace tricky?

The words sly and tricky are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, sly implies furtiveness, lack of candor, and skill in concealing one's aims and methods.

a sly corporate raider

Where would wily be a reasonable alternative to tricky?

The meanings of wily and tricky largely overlap; however, wily implies skill and deception in maneuvering.

the wily fugitive escaped the posse

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of tricky Several overlapping pressures, including trade disruptions and falling demand, have placed winemakers in a tricky position. — Ella Chakarian, Los Angeles Times, 15 Oct. 2026 But this is a tricky process, especially for large structures that won’t fit into an autoclave, a high-pressure thermal curing chamber common in modern aerospace factories. — Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 15 Oct. 2026 Zacharia had little time to prepare for the briefing, which can be a challenging joust with the press in which a press secretary needs to advocate on behalf of the administration and improvise quickly when tricky topics arise. — Michael Birnbaum The Washington Post, Arkansas Online, 14 Oct. 2026 The cast was flanked by the dynamic duo behind the film, Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson, who drew upon their real relationship to navigate some of the film’s trickier moments. — Kenneal Patterson, Vanity Fair, 14 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for tricky

Recent Examples of Synonyms for tricky

Adjective

The problem, Snegovaya said, is that achieving military autonomy for Europe and Ukraine is extremely difficult in the short term, and Europe has been slow to develop the necessary capabilities.

— Elsa Ohlen, CNBC, 17 Oct. 2026
Past changes have pushed the glacier into a retreat that may be difficult to reverse, while new modeling suggests scientists may have underestimated how warm seawater reaches beneath it.

— Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 17 Oct. 2026

Definition of difficult

Adjective

Magpies are opportunistic scavengers, incredibly cunning and deceitful and capable of calculated deception.

— Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 28 Sep. 2026
Last week, Alan Cumming’s cunning competition empire The Traitors unsheathed its most diabolical twist yet.

— Rebecca Alter, Vulture, 24 Sep. 2026

Definition of cunning

Adjective

Celebrity hairstylist Brian Magallones considers this the perfect balance between a not-too-fussy and not-too-structured chignon, a style that sounds tough to style without a professional team but is actually quite easy to master at-home.

— Kaleigh Werner, Footwear News, 13 Oct. 2026
Coming off that dominant performance against the Yankees, Rasmussen went six-plus tough innings.

— Rob Maaddi, Los Angeles Times, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of tough

Adjective

Another network had received the notification by late Saturday, according to a person familiar with the situation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share sensitive details.

— Miriam Waldvogel, Arkansas Online, 12 Oct. 2026
Pictet seemed sensitive to the moral risk of going into Syria for the wrong reasons.

— Ben Taub, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026

Definition of sensitive

Adjective

Jack Hughes scored on a breakaway off a slick pass from Jesper Bratt early in overtime, lifting the New Jersey Devils to a 5-4 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night.

— CBS News, CBS News, 14 Oct. 2026
The next email had a slick poster promoting the Zoom event, with the book cover as the backdrop and blurbs from the Economist and other publications.

— Snigdha Poonam, The Dial, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of slick

Adjective

Winds across the San Joaquin Valley floor could gust 15-20 mph at times Thursday and Friday, with the majority of more problematic winds reserved for the Sierra foothills.

— Sean Macaday, Sacbee.com, 14 Oct. 2026
Paul Robeson’s films from the 1930s are sometimes problematic and can pander to colonial ideas about Black people.

— Zac Ntim, Deadline, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of problematic

Adjective

Coleman said each design has its own distinct character and can be styled individually, either as a subtle everyday detail or a sculptural statement.

— Tianwei Zhang, Footwear News, 15 Oct. 2026
As the researchers saw, introducing random mutation could still make subtle structural tweaks that produced enzymes that were considerably more active.

— ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 14 Oct. 2026

Definition of subtle

Browse Nearby Words

tricksy

tricky

tricolor

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“Tricky.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tricky. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of tricky

adjective

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