cunning

[cun·ning]

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.

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Knowing; skillfull; dexterous.

Noun
drafty artfulness (especially in deception)

Noun
shrewdness as demonstrated by being skilled in deception

Noun
shrewdness in deception; "as cunning as a fox"

Adjective S.
showing inventiveness and skill; "a clever gadget"; "the cunning maneuvers leading to his success"; "an ingenious solution to the problem"

Adjective S.
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 Dik"; "a wily old attorney"

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Adjective S.
attractive especially by means of smallness or prettiness or quaintness; "a cute kid with pigtails"; "a cute little apartment"; "cunning kittens"; "a cunning baby"

a.
Knowing; skillful; dexterous.

a.
Wrought with, or exhibiting, skill or ingenuity; ingenious; curious; as, cunning work.

a.
Crafty; sly; artful; designing; deceitful.

a.
Pretty or pleasing; as, a cunning little boy.

a.
Knowledge; art; skill; dexterity.

a.
The faculty or act of using stratagem to accomplish a purpose; fraudulent skill or dexterity; deceit; craft.

Cunning

Cun"ning (k?n"n?ng), a. [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.

Esau was a cunning hunter.

2. Wrought with, or exibiting, skill or ingenuity; ingenious; curious; as, cunning work.

Over them Arachne high did lift
Her cunning web.
3. Crafty; sly; artful; designid; 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.] 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.
Cunning
Cun"ning, n. [AS. cunnung trial, or Icel. kunnandi knowledge. See Cunning, a.] 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.

Knowing; skillfull; dexterous.
Knowledge; art; skill; dexterity.

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Usage Examples

The art of using deceit and cunning grow continually weaker and less effective to the user.

Cunning is the art of concealing our own defects, and discovering other people's weaknesses.

With care, and skill, and cunning art, She parried Time's malicious dart, And kept the years at bay, Till passion entered in her heart and aged her in a day!

If beauty isn't genius it usually signals at least a high level of animal cunning.

The weak in courage is strong in cunning.

Misspelled Form

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Other Usage Examples

The terrorists are fighting freedom with all their cunning and cruelty because freedom is their greatest fear - and they should be afraid, because freedom is on the march.

Knowledge without justice ought to be called cunning rather than wisdom.

Knowledge which is divorced from justice, may be called cunning rather than wisdom.

Many men have been capable of doing a wise thing, more a cunning thing, but very few a generous thing.

Nothing doth more hurt in a state than that cunning men pass for wise.

Happy people are ignoramuses and glory is nothing else but success, and to achieve it one only has to be cunning.