Showing results for "cunning"

• present participle of can.

cunning

American  

[kuhn-ing] / ˈkʌn ɪŋ /

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

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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 British  

/ 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

Synonym Usage

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 Word Forms

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

Etymology

Origin of cunning

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 )

Explanation

In fairy tales, always watch out for the cunning fox or the cunning witch. Cunning means clever, in the sense of trickery. A cunning plan might involve setting traps for the innocent and pure at heart to fall into. This adjective goes back to the 14th-century English verb cunnen, which meant "to know," and is actually related to our English verb know. In earlier times, the noun was used to mean a high level of skill in using the hands. You can be cunning, but you can also use your cunning to figure out a very clever and tricky plan.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cunning

"His performance certainly seems tinged with the courageous naivety of Spider-Man, insisting on trying to influence those much more cunning and physically capable than he," he wrote.

From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026

He is cunning, not intelligent — something he unwittingly proves every time he claims that passing a basic mental competency test shows his brilliance.

From Salon ● Jul. 6, 2026

Hatcher — a Pomo shape-shifter who dodges prejudice by passing as Mexican in the novel — is a thorny protagonist, often cunning, scheming and unforgiving.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2026

"King George, as you know, never set foot in America. And please rest assured, ladies and gentlemen, I am not here as part of some cunning rearguard action."

From Barron's ● Apr. 29, 2026

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

From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin