How to Use guile in a Sentence

guile

noun
  • No training, no craft to speak of, no guile, just pure instinct.
    — Terrence Rafferty, The Atlantic, 22 June 2015
  • Age and guile, as the old saying goes, beat youth and skill every time.
    — Peter Lucas, Boston Herald, 4 June 2026
  • His soft flop shot on the sixth hole Thursday was a study in guts and guile.
    — Al Saracevic, San Francisco Chronicle, 8 Feb. 2018
  • To stay at the top, Pruitt has relied on guile to pull off this magic act.
    — Rainer Sabin, AL.com, 29 Dec. 2017
  • In the meantime, the Bruins will try to get by on guile and a ball of twine.
    — Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times, 10 Mar. 2021
  • But this team from the start was built on guile and basketball IQ.
    — Ira Winderman, sun-sentinel.com, 13 Dec. 2021
  • There’s so little fluency, spark or guile.
    — James Pearce, New York Times, 5 Jan. 2026
  • Haynes relied on rudimentary wrestling moves and lots of guile that first year.
    — David Hinojosa, San Antonio Express-News, 21 Apr. 2021
  • That, Richardson, 30, said is where guile has to carry the day.
    — Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 5 Jan. 2024
  • Chance, guile, and missteps put the Democrats in this position.
    — Matthew Continetti, National Review, 25 Sep. 2021
  • As Aeneas says, what a decade long siege could not achieve, Sinon achieved with his guile in a day.
    — Roger Valdez, Forbes, 3 June 2022
  • Avery had rolled out his deadly plans with all the guile and strategic know-how that his navy training had taught him.
    — Sean Kingsley, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 Apr. 2024
  • The steel and strength to Irving's wiliness and guile came from James.
    — Bill Livingston, cleveland.com, 8 June 2017
  • The Yankees’ patience increased as the game went on, but so did Cole’s guile.
    — Benjamin Hoffman, New York Times, 15 Oct. 2019
  • In between is a huge chessboard for honing skills of strategy and guile while catching a tan.
    — Mark David, Robb Report, 4 Sep. 2025
  • Home runs have become a problem for Melville, a pitcher who relies on pitch command and guile.
    — Patrick Saunders, The Denver Post, 17 Sep. 2019
  • Smalls displayed his guile and courage in the midst of chattel slavery and the Civil War.
    — Ken Makin, Christian Science Monitor, 10 June 2025
  • That, plus tons of experience and veteran guile, should be enough to get him to the weekend and give him a chance.
    — Carlos Monarrez, Detroit Free Press, 11 Nov. 2020
  • The voice—ringing, powerful, soulful—and the musical guile were there from the start.
    — David Remnick, The New Yorker, 4 Apr. 2016
  • Tampa is 5-2 and Brady is a huge reason — for his arm, for his leadership, for his guile.
    — Barry Wilner, SFChronicle.com, 26 Oct. 2020
  • The text messages — shocking in their lack of guile — offer kids weed, and the quantities paralyze me.
    — Sarah Evans, Longreads, 10 Aug. 2020
  • Tampa is 5-2 and Brady is a huge reason for that mark — for his arm, for his leadership, for his guile.
    — Barry Wilner, Star Tribune, 26 Oct. 2020
  • And then Shelton would find his opening, and enough power and guile to make a tiring Ruud crack.
    — Matthew Futterman, New York Times, 26 Jan. 2026
  • Away from the camera, the man affectionately known as Grapes has softer edges and a prankster’s guile.
    — Curtis Rush, New York Times, 25 Dec. 2017
  • Even at 35, the German has the guile to make an impact in the Premier League.
    — Andy Naylor, New York Times, 15 June 2026
  • But Mourinho has been the center of attention since taking over Spurs for lack of guile, as well.
    — Frank Dell’apa, BostonGlobe.com, 8 Jan. 2020
  • With the guile and shiftiness of Messi, who roams freely around the field, that opening can come at any moment — and through any defender.
    — James Wagner, New York Times, 3 Dec. 2022
  • Brentford are one of the league’s most effective counter-attacking sides, but can lack guile against deep-lying opponents.
    — James McNicholas, New York Times, 31 Jan. 2026
  • So much that belonged to the Abdalahs had through the years been tickled over with a catfishing guile to the munshi’s portion.
    — Daniyal Mueenuddin, The New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2021
  • The imposing midfielder brings steel to Leeds’ defensive phase, along with legs and guile to the attack.
    — Beren Cross, New York Times, 21 Feb. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'guile.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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