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Cunning   /kˈənɪŋ/   Listen
adjective
Cunning  adj.  
1.
Knowing; skillful; dexterous. "A cunning workman." ""Tis beauty truly blent, whose red and white Nature's own sweet and cunning hand laid on." "Esau was a cunning hunter."
2.
Wrought with, or exhibiting, skill or ingenuity; ingenious; curious; as, cunning work. "Over them Arachne high did lift" "Her cunning web."
3.
Crafty; sly; artful; designing; deceitful. "They are resolved to be cunning; let others run the hazard of being sincere."
4.
Pretty or pleasing; as, a cunning little boy. (Colloq. U.S.)
Synonyms: 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. A cunning 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 defense."


noun
Cunning  n.  
1.
Knowledge; art; skill; dexterity. (Archaic) "Let my right hand forget her cunning." "A carpenter's desert Stands more in cunning than in power."
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." "We take cunning for a sinister or crooked wisdom."





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Cunning" Quotes from Famous Books



... cunning in your schools than I had thought, for it is a certain method of showing them their vanity," returned the trapper, suddenly abandoning a discussion, from which the naturalist was just beginning to anticipate great delight, by turning to his dog, whose restlessness he attempted ...
— The Prairie • J. Fenimore Cooper
... told me that they were the most savage and warlike of all the wild tribes in the Pampa del Sacramento, between the rivers Ucayali and Hualtaga. "We must be on our guard against them, for they are equally cunning as fierce, and I truly believe that they really do eat those they can ...
— Manco, the Peruvian Chief - An Englishman's Adventures in the Country of the Incas • W.H.G. Kingston
... by this outburst, as he was cunning enough to know precisely how far he could venture with safety. "I am waiting," ...
— Red Money • Fergus Hume
... The curious nest among the branches green, The busy weaver-bird plaits of thick leaves, And in and out its pliant meshes weaves; And since thou sayest 'twere hard to match thy fine, Strong, woven fabrics, watch the weaver twine His cunning wefts. Though still," she said, "think not I scorn thy gifts, Prince Eblis; for I wot Their worth is greater than my tongue can say." Then Eblis deeper in the cave led her a little way, And showed a stately screen of such fine art One almost felt the breeze that ...
— Lilith - The Legend of the First Woman • Ada Langworthy Collier
... have the cunning of foxes," he said to Agathe. "In all my days I never saw a man carry things with such a high hand as that soldier; they say war educates young men! Joseph has let himself be fooled. They have shut his mouth with wine, and those miserable pictures, ...
— The Two Brothers • Honore de Balzac


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