craftly

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English crafftly, craftely, from Old English cræftlīc; equivalent to craft +‎ -ly.

Adjective

craftly (comparative more craftly, superlative most craftly)

1. (rare) Skillful, expert; indicative of skill.
   • 1506, Stephen hawes, “How graũde amoure came to the toure of chyualry”, in […] [T]he Passe Tyme of Pleasure, London: […] wynkyn de worde, published [1517], →OCLC, signature K.ij., verso; reprinted in The Works of Stephen Hawes: Facsimile Reproductions […] , Delmar, N.Y.: Scholars’ Facsimiles & Reprints, 1975, →OCLC:

     Theſe ymages were made full curyouſly / With theyꝛ hoꝛſes of the ſtele ſo fyne / And eche of them in theyꝛ places ſundꝛy / About were ſette that clerely dyde ſhyne / Lyke Dyane clere in her ſpere celeſtyne / And vnder eche hoꝛſe there was full pꝛyuely / A grete whele made by craftly geometry

   • 1919 October 29, “[London Letter: Westminster, Tuesday Night.] Artist and Humourist.”, in The Devon and Exeter Daily Gazette, volume CXLVII, number 22,924, Exeter, →OCLC, page 4, column 2:

     All genuine lovers of pictorial art are earnestly exhorted to miss no available opportunity of visiting the Nevinson show at the Leicester Gallery. It is a wonderfully versatile genius Mr. Nevinson displays in this exhibition. There are all sorts of subjects, and all sorts of styles, but all of them interesting, every one of them craftly and distinguished.

   • 1963, Paul West, “The limits”, in The Modern Novel, London: Hutchinson of London, →OCLC, part one (Flux), page 11:

     His protest included a carpe diem; seize the day before Saturn gobbles it up. It was only natural that, before William James and Bergson, he should have created means of expressing inwardness and, before Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, a model of the novel as a craftly document.

   • 1999 September, Timothy J. Scarlett, “Narcissus’s Mirror: Manufacture and Modernism in the American Great Basin—The Case of Pottery”, in International Journal of Historical Archaeology, volume 3, number 3, New York, N.Y.: Plenum Publishing Corporation, →DOI, →ISSN, section “The Production of Ideology”, page 171:

     The L.D.S. leadership actively recruited potters; they were an essential part of their idealized, self-sustained Utopian communities. This ideology perpetuated the master-apprentice system in pottery production, while in the production centers, the craftly ideal was being replaced by modern, specialized production systems marked by mechanization, specialization, and deskilling.

2. (rare; obsolete or nonstandard) Crafty, cunning.
   • 1526, [William Bonde], “Howe this iourney generally begynneth in our baptyme / and of the obligacion made bytwene god and vs / and of certayne benefytes that god hath prouided for vs / and specially of the tree of lyfe / the blessed sacramente of the aultar”, in […] [T]he Pylgrimage of Perfection: […], London: […] Richarde Pynson […], →OCLC, first book, folio xvii, verso:

     Mo than a thouſande ways he hath / by his craftly fraudes to deceyue man.

     The 1554 edition uses crafty.

   • 1733, “Sect. III. I now come to the last Enquiry, viz. ‘Whether Atheistical, Prophane, Treacherous and Seditious Writers ought to be Punished?’”, in A Seasonable Preservative against the Wiles of Popery; or Modern Deism Real Jesuitism: Wherein Deism Is Try’d, Unmask’d, and Condemn’d, […], London: […] J. Wilford, […], →OCLC, pages 56–57:

     I call it ſinful, becauſe in my Judgement, all factious Jeſuited Men, that under the ſeveral Maſks or Cant-Terms of Perſecution, Liberty, Free Thinking, Hardſhip of the Teſt-Act, or the like hypocritical and craftly Pretences, are for diſturbing the Peace of the Nation, and bringing in the Pretender, are as corrupt in their Minds, and as rebellious in their Hearts, as the very Rebels that fought for the Pretdneer^{[sic – meaning Pretender]} at Dumblain or Preſton.

   • 1921, Aristaenetus, translated by Richard Brinsley Sheridan and [Nathaniel Brassey] Halhed, “[From the Love Epistles of Aristaenetus. (358 A. D.)] The Sisters”, in T[homas] R[obert] Smith, editor, Poetica Erotica: A Collection of Rare and Curious Amatory Verse, volume 1, New York, N.Y.: […] [F]or subscribers only by Boni and Liveright, →OCLC, page 73:

     But vain were words, entreaties vain, / The craftly witch secured my swain.

     Originally (1854) crafty.

Related terms

• craftlike

Etymology 2

From Middle English craflike, craftli, craftliche, craftly, creftly, from Old English cræftlīce; equivalent to craft +‎ -ly.

Adverb

craftly (comparative more craftly, superlative most craftly)

1. (rare) Skillfully, expertly.
   • c. 1500–6, […] [T]he Worlde and the Chylde / otherwyse Called [Mundus ⁊ Infans] […], London: […] wynkyn de worde, published 17 July 1522, →OCLC, signature C.iiij., verso; reproduced in facsimile as The World and the Child otherwise Mundus & Infans (The Tudor Facsimile Texts), London, Edinburgh: […] T. C. & E. C. Jack, […], 1909, →OCLC:

     Now cryſt [i.e., Christ] our comely creature clerer thã cryſtal clene / That craftly made euery creature by good recreacyon / Saue all this company that is gathered here bydene / And ſet all your ſoules in to good ſaluacyon

   • 1959 September 23, Coldwell, Banker & Co., “The Pen Becomes a Clarion”, in San Mateo Times, volume 59, number 228, San Mateo, Calif., page 26, column 6:

     The Pen Becomes a Clarion / When we write about this gracious Hillsborough home. 8 rms. in all, craftly decorated as only large high-ceiling rooms can be, some beautifully beamed.

   • 1981, Marjorie Agosin, “Edla Van Steen, ed., O conto da mulher brasileira. Sao Paulo: Vertente Editora, 1978. 251 p.”, in The Rocky Mountain Review of Language and Literature, volume 35, number 1, Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association, →DOI, →ISSN, page 83:

     Due to considerations of brevity, we mention only a few of these craftly written works.

   • 2017 November 5, “Fab 15 – These Are The Best Themed Restaurants In Delhi-NCR”, in India Chronicles‎^[1], New Delhi, archived from the original on 2024-04-07:

     They also have an aqua-section which is brightly lit with bue^{[sic – meaning blue]} lights and is craftly decorated with marine artifacts.

2. (rare; obsolete or nonstandard) Craftily, cunningly.
   • [[1540?], Hector Boece, translated by Johne Bellenden, “Of Ethodius brothir to Eugenius afore rehersit. Of his gouernance in Denmark and of his successioun. Hovv Rome vvas tane be Gothis, and hovv syndry spulzeis thairof fell to Fergus the secund.”, in […] [T]he Hystory and Croniklis of Scotland (in Scots), Edinburgh: […] Thomas Dauidson, […], →OCLC, seventh book, folios [lxxxii], verso – lxxxiii, recto:

     In the quhylkis war nocht, bot bꝛokyn leiffis and few of thaym bꝛaider than the palme of ane mannis hand, wꝛittin craftly on rude and hard parchement.]

   • 1569, Henrie [i.e., Heinrich] Cornelius Agrippa, translated by Ja[mes] San[dford], “Of Scholasticall Diuinitie”, in Of the Vanitie and Vncertaintie of Artes and Sciences, London: […] Henry Wykes […], →OCLC, folio 169, recto:

     […] of ſo high a Science they haue made a certaine Logomachie, that is, an vndiſcreate altercation, goinge from ſchole to ſchole, mouinge queſtions, foꝛging opinions, and wꝛong the Scriptures with intricate wooꝛdes geuinge them a contrarie ſence, redier craftly to deceiue, then plainely to trie out the truthe, […]

   • 1845, James Crozer, A Glimpse of All the Denominations of the Priesthood, […]‎^[2], Newcastle upon Tyne: […] W. B. Leighton, […], →OCLC, page 17:

     If a man then opened his lips, respecting religion, ten to one, but it cost him both his life and property; and it is an awful fact, that if a Protestant New Testament had been found in a man’s premises, in a Roman Catholic Country, not anything could have saved himself and family from utter ruin. And how much better would our lordly priests treat us if they yet had the use of the sword? which that mighty engine, they so craftly wished to set to work, National Education under their jurisdiction, might have given them. They are determined enemies to any popular system.

   • 1953 December 10, Mel Heimer, “My New York”, in The Journal-News, volume 64, number 183, Nyack, N.Y., page eleven, column 3:

     Beginning with the late, great comedian Ted Healy, Gard drew virtually all of the top ones. He drew them craftly, coldly, violently and he called them “All Gard’s Chillun.” He made many women cry; […]

     Earlier versions (24 November) printed in other newspapers use craftily.

References

• “craftly, adj.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
• “craftly, adv.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.