Sneaky switching of axes (4)
I believe the answer is:
foxy
'sneaky' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'switching of axes' is the wordplay.
'switching' is an anagram indicator.
'axes' becomes 'xy' (x axis and y axis).
'of' with letters rearranged gives 'fo'.
'fo'+'xy'='FOXY'
(Other definitions for foxy that I've seen before include "Cunning - sexually attractive" , "Vulpine; sly" , "tricky" , "Clever in vulpine manner" , "Crafty; (paper) mildewed" .)