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cunning

[ kuhn-ing ]
/ ˈkʌn ɪŋ /
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See synonyms for: cunning / cunnings / cunningly / cunningness on Thesaurus.com

noun

skill employed in a shrewd or sly manner, as in deceiving; craftiness; guile.
adeptness in performance; dexterity: The weaver's hand lost its cunning.

adjective

verb

Obsolete. present participle of can1.

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Origin of cunning

1275–1325; (noun) Middle English; Old English cunnung, equivalent to cunn(an) to know (see can1) + -ung-ing1; (adj., v.) Middle English, present participle of cunnan to know (see can1, -ing2)

synonym study for cunning

1. 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.

OTHER WORDS FROM cunning

Words nearby cunning

Cunha, cuniculus, cunjevoi, cunner, cunnilingus, cunning, Cunningham, Cunninghame Graham, Cunobelinus, cunt, Cuomo
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

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Words related to cunning

knowing, acute, smarts, smooth, slick, deep, keen, sharp, smart, crackerjack, artful, astute, cagey, canny, crafty, foxy, insidious, shifty, shrewd, slippery

Example sentences from the Web for cunning

British Dictionary definitions for cunning

cunning
/ (ˈkʌnɪŋ) /

adjective

crafty and shrewd, esp in deception; slycunning as a fox
made with or showing skill or cleverness; ingenious

noun

craftiness, esp in deceiving; slyness
cleverness, skill, or ingenuity

Derived forms of cunning

cunningly, adverbcunningness, noun

Word Origin for cunning

Old English cunnende; related to cunnan to know (see can 1), cunnian to test, experience, Old Norse kunna to know
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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