adj. (colloquial).—Artful; e.g., ‘a DEEP one.’ [An extension of the figurative sense = remote from comprehension, hard to penetrate—usages frequent in Biblical language.
1672–1726. VANBRUGH, The Mistake, Act I. When you take us for fools, we never take you for wise men. For my part, in this present case, I take myself to be mighty DEEP.
1688. SHADWELL, The Squire of Alsatia, III., in wks. (1720) iv., 63. Fools! nay, there I am sure you are out: they are all DEEP, they are very DEEP, and sharp.
1841. Punch, vol. I., p. 268. I can scarcely believe my eyes. Oh! he’s a DEEP one.
1880. A. TROLLOPE, The Duke’s Children, ch. vi. He was, too, very ‘DEEP,’ and some men, who could put up with his other failings, could not endure that.
1890. Pall Mall Gazette, 17 Oct., p. 2, col. 2. His Majesty the Sultan is ‘a DEEP one,’ it is clear.
