undermine, introduce the thin end of the wedge; play a deep game, play tricks with; ambiguas in vulgum spargere voces[Lat]; flatter, make things pleasant; have an ax to grind.
     dodge, sidestep, bob and weave. 
     Adj. cunning, crafty, artful; skillful &c. 698; subtle, feline,
vulpine; cunning as a fox, cunning as a serpent; deep, deep laid; profound; designing, contriving; intriguing &c.v.; strategic, diplomatic, politic, Machiavelian, timeserving[obs3]; artificial; tricky, tricksy[obs3]; wily, sly, slim, insidious, stealthy; underhand &c (hidden) 528; subdolous[obs3]; deceitful &c. 545; slippery as an eel, evasive &c. 623; crooked; arch, pawky[obs3], shrewd, acute; sharp, sharp as a tack, sharp as a needle|!; canny, astute, leery, knowing, up to snuff, too clever by half, not to be caught with chaff.
     tactful, diplomatic, politic; polite &c. 894. 
     Adv. cunningly &c. adj.; slyly, slily[obs3], on the sly, by a side
wind. 
     Phr. diamond cut diamond; a’ bis ou a blanc[Fr][obs3]; fin contre
fin[Fr]; “something is rotten in the state of Denmark” [Hamlet].

—­ p. 228 —­

     #703.  Artlessness. —­ N. artlessness &c. adj; nature, simplicity;
innocence &c. 946; bonhomie, naivete, abandon, candor, sincerity; singleness of purpose, singleness of heart; honesty &c. 939; plain speaking; epanchement[Fr].
     rough diamond, matter of fact man; le palais de verite[Fr]; enfant
terrible[Fr]. 
     V. be artless &c. adj; look one in the face; wear one’s heart upon his
sleeves for daws to peck at[obs3]; think aloud; speak out, speak one’s mind; be free with one, call a spade a spade. 
     Adj. artless, natural, pure, native, confiding, simple, lain,
inartificial[obs3], untutored, unsophisticated, ingenu[obs3], unaffected, naive; sincere, frank; open, open as day; candid, ingenuous, guileless; unsuspicious, honest &c. 939; innocent &c. 946; Arcadian[obs3]; undesigning, straightforward, unreserved, aboveboard; simple-minded, single-minded; frank-hearted, open-hearted, single-hearted, simple-hearted.
     free-spoken, plain-spoken, outspoken; blunt, downright, direct, matter
of fact, unpoetical[obs3]; unflattering. 
     Adv. in plain words, in plain English; without mincing the matter; not
to mince the matter &c. (affirmation) 535. 
     Phr.  Davus sum non Oedipus [Terence]; liberavi animam meam[Lat]; “as
frank as rain on cherry blossoms” [E.B.  Browning].

% Section IV.  ANTAGONISM

1.  Conditional Antagonism %

     #704.  Difficulty. —­ N. difficulty; hardness &c. adj.;
impracticability &c. (impossibility) 471; tough work, hard work, uphill work; hard task, Herculean task, Augean task[obs3]; task of Sisyphus, Sisyphean labor, tough job, teaser, rasper[obs3], dead lift.
     dilemma, embarrassment; deadlock; perplexity &c. (uncertainty) 475;
intricacy; entanglement, complexity &c. 59; cross