adj. having concealed difficulty; "a catchy question"; "a tricky recipe to follow"

adj. not to be trusted; "how extraordinarily slippery a liar the camera is"- James Agee

adj. marked by skill in deception; "cunning men often pass for wise"; "deep political machinations"; "a foxy scheme"; "a slick evasive answer"; "sly as a fox"; "tricky Dick"; "a wily old attorney"

adj. difficult to analyze or understand; "a complicated problem"; "complicated Middle East politics"

adj. highly complex or intricate; "the Byzantine tax structure"; "convoluted legal language"; "convoluted reasoning"; "the plot was too involved"; "a knotty problem"; "got his way by labyrinthine maneuvering"; "Oh, what a tangled web we weave"- Sir Walter Scott; "tortuous legal procedures"; "tortuous negotiations lasting for months"

adj. marked by deception; "achieved success in business only by underhand methods"

adj. intended to deceive; "deceitful advertising"; "fallacious testimony"; "smooth, shining, and deceitful as thin ice" - S.T.Coleridge; "a fraudulent scheme to escape paying taxes"

adj. marked by practical hardheaded intelligence; "a smart businessman"; "an astute tenant always reads the small print in a lease"; "he was too shrewd to go along with them on a road that could lead only to their overthrow"

adj. characterized by quickness and ease in learning; "some children are brighter in one subject than another"; "smart children talk earlier than the average"

adj. having the capacity for thought and reason especially to a high degree; "is there intelligent life in the universe?"; "an intelligent question"

adj. quick to understand; "a kind and apprehensive friend"- Nathaniel Hawthorne

adj. acutely insightful and wise; "much too perspicacious to be taken in by such a spurious argument"; "observant and thoughtful, he was given to asking sagacious questions"; "a source of valuable insights and sapient advice to educators"

adj. showing self-interest and shrewdness in dealing with others; "a cagey lawyer"; "too clever to be sound"

adj. characterized by insincerity or deceit; evasive; "a devious character"; "shifty eyes"

adj. used of persons; "the most calculating and selfish men in the community"

adj. treacherously cowardly; "the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on...December 7th"- F.D. Roosevelt

adj. given to lying; "a lying witness"; "a mendacious child"

adj. extremely wicked; "nefarious schemes"; "a villainous plot"; "a villainous band of thieves"

adj. marked by deception; "achieved success in business only by underhand methods"

adj. appropriate to a purpose; practical; "in the circumstances it was expedient to express loyalty"

adj. of or relating to Machiavelli or the principles of conduct he recommended; "Machiavellian thinking"

adj. marked by quiet and caution and secrecy; taking pains to avoid being observed; "a furtive manner"; "a sneak attack"; "stealthy footsteps"; "a surreptitious glance at his watch"

adj. secret or hidden; not openly practiced or engaged in or shown or avowed; "covert actions by the CIA"; "covert funding for the rebels"

adj. unrestrained by convention or morality; "Congreve draws a debauched aristocratic society"; "deplorably dissipated and degraded"; "riotous living"; "fast women"

adj. without scruples or principles; "unscrupulous politicos who would be happy to sell...their country in order to gain power"

adj. professing feelings or virtues one does not have; "hypocritical praise"

adj. requiring full use of your abilities or resources; "ambitious schedule"; "performed the most challenging task without a mistake"

adj. making great mental demands; hard to comprehend or solve or believe; "a baffling problem"; "I faced the knotty problem of what to have for breakfast"; "a problematic situation at home"

adj. difficult to handle; requiring great tact; "delicate negotiations with the big powers";"hesitates to be explicit on so ticklish a matter"; "a touchy subject"

adj. causing vexation or worry: "trying times"; "serious problems"

adj. impressively difficult; "a tall order"

adj. extremely difficult; requiring the strength of a Hercules; "a herculean task"

adj. hard to manage; inclined to make trouble: "a difficult child"

adj. requiring great effort; "a hard-fought primary"

adj. very unpleasant; "hellish weather"; "stop that god-awful racket"

adj. exasperatingly difficult to handle or circumvent; "a nasty problem"; "a good man to have on your side in a tight situation"

adj. full of hardship or trials; "the rocky road to success"; "they were having a rough time"

adj. causing difficulty in finding an answer or solution; much disputed; "the vexed issue of priorities"; "we live in vexed and troubled times"

adj. (untrustworthy)

adj. of businesses and businessmen of questionable honesty; "a fly-by-night operation"

adj. characterized by insincerity or deceit; evasive; "a devious character"; "shifty eyes"

adj. not to be trusted

adj. skillful (or showing skill) in adapting means to ends; "cool prudence and sensitive selfishness along with quick perception of what is possible--these distinguish an adroit politician"; "came up with a clever story"; "an ingenious press agent"; "an ingenious scheme"

adj. characterized by elaborate scheming and intrigue; devious; "Byzantine methods for holding on to his chairmanship"; "a fine hand for Byzantine deals and cozy arrangements"

adj. obviously contrived to charm; "an insufferably precious performance"; "a child with intolerably cute mannerisms"

adj. concealing crafty designs for advancing your own interest; "a selfish and designing nation obsessed with the dark schemes of European intrigue"- W.Churchill; "a scheming wife"; "a scheming gold digger"

adj. skillful in influencing or controlling others to your own advantage; "the early manipulative techniques of a three-year-old child"

adj. worthy of trust or belief; "a trustworthy report"; "an experienced and trustworthy traveling companion"

adj. simple and natural; without cunning or deceit; "an artless manner"; "artless elegance"

adj. characterized by honesty and fairness; "straight dealing"; "a square deal"