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 ¹.

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

Derived Forms

• ˈcunningness, noun
• ˈcunningly, adverb

Other Words From

• cun·ning·ly adverb
• cun·ning·ness noun
• o·ver·cun·ning adjective
• o·ver·cun·ning·ness noun
• qua·si-cun·ning 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

Under him, Ireland played with more cunning, deception and trick set-pieces than a street magician.

From BBC

You can practically see the stress falling away from theatergoers as they become putty in the hands of these cunning troupers, who are finding laughs in every corner of this “Odd Couple”-esque comedy, scheduled to run through Dec. 15.

From Los Angeles Times

Mehedi has since constructed a fine, if not world-beating, career, but the nine bowlers on the list before him contain some of the greatest in the history of the sport - Rangana Herath, the infinitely cunning Sri Lankan left-arm spinner who took more than 400 Test wickets; then the four leading non-English wicket-takers in Test history: Muttiah Muralitharan, Anil Kumble, Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne.

From BBC

He is, Yaari says, "extremely cunning, shrewd - a guy who knows to switch on and off a type of personal charm".

From BBC

An Israeli government assessment of Sinwar during his time in prison described his character as "cruel, authoritative, influential and with unusual abilities of endurance, cunning and manipulative, content with little... Keeps secrets even inside prison amongst other prisoners… Has the ability to carry crowds".

From BBC