CUNNING

clever, cunning, ingenious

(adjective) showing inventiveness and skill; “a clever gadget”; “the cunning maneuvers leading to his success”; “an ingenious solution to the problem”

crafty, cunning, dodgy, foxy, guileful, knavish, slick, sly, tricksy, tricky, wily

(adjective) marked by skill in deception; “cunning men often pass for wise”; “deep political machinations”; “a foxy scheme”; “a slick evasive answer”; “sly as a fox”; “tricky Dick”; “a wily old attorney”

cunning, cute

(adjective) attractive especially by means of smallness or prettiness or quaintness; “a cute kid with pigtails”; “a cute little apartment”; “cunning kittens”; “a cunning baby”

cunning

(noun) crafty artfulness (especially in deception)

craft, craftiness, cunning, foxiness, guile, slyness, wiliness

(noun) shrewdness as demonstrated by being skilled in deception

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Proper noun

Cunning (plural Cunnings)

A surname.

Statistics

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Cunning is the 29986^th most common surname in the United States, belonging to 783 individuals. Cunning is most common among White (80.08%) and Black/African American (14.18%) individuals.

Etymology 1

Adjective

cunning (comparative more cunning, superlative most cunning)

Sly; crafty; clever in surreptitious behaviour.

(obsolete) Skillful, artful.

(obsolete) Wrought with, or exhibiting, skill or ingenuity; ingenious.

(US, colloquial, dated, New England) Cute, appealing.

Synonyms

• See also wily

Etymology 2

Noun

cunning (countable and uncountable, plural cunnings)

Practical knowledge or experience; aptitude in performance; skill, proficiency; dexterity.

Practical skill employed in a secret or crafty manner; craft; artifice; skillful deceit; art or magic.

The disposition to employ one's skill in an artful manner; craftiness; guile; artifice; skill of being cunning, sly, conniving, or deceitful.

The natural wit or instincts of an animal.

(obsolete) Knowledge; learning; special knowledge (sometimes implying occult or magical knowledge).

Synonyms

• craftiness

• foxship

• list

Source: Wiktionary

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Cun"ning (kn"nng), a. Etym: [AS. cunnan to know, to be able. See 1st Con, Can.]

1. Knowing; skillfull; dexterous. "A cunning workman." Ex. xxxviii. 23. "Tis beauty truly blent, whose red and white Nature's own sweet and cunning hand laid on. Shak. Esau was a cunning hunter. Gen xxv. 27.

2. Wrought with, or exibiting, skill or ingenuity; ingenious; curious; as, cunning work. Over them Arachne high did lift Her cunning web. Spenser.

3. Crafty; sly; artful; designid; deceitful. They are resolved to be cunning; let others run the hazard of being sincere. South.

4. Pretty or pleasing; as, a cunning little boy. [Colloq. U.S.] Barlett.

Syn.

– Cunning, Artful, Sly, Wily, Crafty. These epithets agree in expressing an aptitude for attaining some end by peculiar and secret means. Cunning is usually low; as, a cunning trick. Artful is more ingenious and inventive; as, an artful device. Sly implies a turn for what is double or concealed; as, sly humor; a sly evasion. Crafty denotes a talent for dexterously deceiving; as, a crafty manager. Wily describes a talent for the use of stratagems; as, a wily politician. "Acunning man often shows his dexterity in simply concealing. An artful man goes further, and exerts his ingenuity in misleading. A crafty man mingles cunning with art, and so shapes his actions as to lull suspicions. The young may be cunning, but the experienced only can be crafty. Slyness is a vulgar kind of cunning; the sly man goes cautiously and silently to work. Wiliness is a species of cunning or craft applicable only to cases of attack and defence." Crabb.

Cun"ning, n. Etym: [AS. cunnung trial, or Icel. kunnandi knowledge. See Cunning, a.]

1. Knowledge; art; skill; dexterity. [Archaic] Let my right hand forget her cunning. Ps. cxxxvii. 5. A carpenter's desert Stands more in cunning than in power. Chapman.

2. The faculty or act of using stratagem to accomplish a purpose; fraudulent skill or dexterity; deceit; craft. Discourage cunning in a child; cunning is the ape of wisdom. Locke. We take cunning for a sinister or crooked wisdom. Bacon.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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