[*** \mathrm{wile}^1] |wīl|

TRICK, RUSE, STRATAGEM, MANEUVER, ARTIFICE, WILE, FEINT mean an indirect means to gain an end.

TRICK may imply deception, roguishness, illusion, and either an evil or harmless end.

e.g. the tricks of the trade

RUSE stresses an attempt to mislead by a false impression.

e.g. the ruses of smugglers

STRATAGEM implies a ruse used to entrap, outwit, circumvent, or surprise an opponent or enemy.

e.g. the stratagem-filled game

MANEUVER suggests adroit and skillful avoidance of difficulty.

e.g. last-minute maneuvers to avert bankruptcy

ARTIFICE implies ingenious contrivance or invention.

e.g. the clever artifices of the stage

WILE suggests an attempt to entrap or deceive with false allurements.

e.g. used all of his wiles to ingratiate himself

FEINT implies a diversion or distraction of attention away from one's real intent.

e.g. a feint toward the enemy's left flank

noun (wiles)

devious or cunning stratagems employed in manipulating or persuading someone to do what one wants:

〖～s〗 たくらみ, 悪だくみ, 策略, 手管.

e.g. she didn't employ any feminine wiles to capture his attention

e.g. the devious wiles of the politicians.

verb with object

1. archaic lure; entice:

〈人〉をだます; …をだまして［誘惑して］ «…» させる «into (doing)» ; «…から» …を離れさせる «from, out of» .

e.g. she could be neither driven nor wiled into the parish kirk.

2. (wile something away) another way of saying while something away (see while):

(楽しいことをして･ぶらぶらして)A〈時間〉を紛らす［過ごす］

e.g. the gang had played monopoly as they wiled away the hours.

Middle English: perhaps from an Old Norse word related to vél ‘craft’.

[*** \mathrm{wile}^2] |wīl| Northern Irish informal

very bad; terrible:

e.g. he was wile when he was young.

attributive used to emphasize the extent of something, especially something negative:

e.g. losing the final was a wile blow.

very; extremely:

e.g. this old boy was wile pleased.

late 19th century: representing a pronunciation of wild, probably influenced by earlier Scots use of wile as an alteration of vile.