cunning

[kuhn-ing]

noun

1. skill employed in a shrewd or sly manner, as in deceiving; craftiness; guile.

   Synonyms: deception, intrigue, trickery

2. adeptness in performance; dexterity.

   The weaver's hand had not lost its cunning.

   Synonyms: agility, adroitness

adjective

1. showing or made with ingenuity.

   Synonyms: skillful, ingenious

2. artfully subtle or shrewd; crafty; sly.

   Synonyms: foxy, tricky, wily, artful

3. Informal.,  charmingly cute or appealing.

   a cunning little baby.

4. Archaic.,  skillful; expert.

verb

1. Obsolete.,  present participle of can.

cunning

/ ˈkʌnɪŋ /

adjective

1. crafty and shrewd, esp in deception; sly

   cunning as a fox

2. made with or showing skill or cleverness; ingenious

noun

1. craftiness, esp in deceiving; slyness

2. cleverness, skill, or ingenuity

Other Word Forms

• cunningly adverb
• cunningness noun
• overcunning adjective
• overcunningness noun
• quasi-cunning adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of cunning¹

First recorded in 1275–1325; (noun) Middle English; Old English cunnung, equivalent to cunn(an) “to know” ( can ¹ ) + -ung -ing ¹; (adjective, verb) Middle English, present participle of cunnan “to know” ( can ¹, -ing ² )

Word History and Origins

Origin of cunning¹

Old English cunnende; related to cunnan to know (see _can ¹ ), cunnian to test, experience, Old Norse kunna to know

Synonym Study

Cunning, artifice, craft imply an inclination toward deceit, slyness, and trickery. Cunning implies a shrewd, often instinctive skill in concealing or disguising the real purposes of one's actions: not intelligence but a low kind of cunning. An artifice is a clever, unscrupulous ruse, used to mislead others: a successful artifice to conceal one's motives. Craft suggests underhand methods and the use of deceptive devices and tricks to attain one's ends: craft and deceitfulness in every act.

Example Sentences

And does Sunderland's cunning tactic of moving the advertising boards make a difference?

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“Wallachians were accustomed to give it as a surname to any person who rendered himself conspicuous either by courage, cruel actions, or cunning.”

Read more on Salon

Archive technician Madalena Pena, 34, said the government was reversing labour rights "in an unfair, subtle, and cunning way, without having said anything before the election" in May.

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Chess was practically the Russian national sport, and Khrushchev relished the chess-like aspects of his job, the cunning calculation of moves and countermoves.

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He also occasionally employed what was known as the “sucker shift,” a cunning tactic he used to draw offsides penalties.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal