cunning
/ˈkʌnɪŋ/ adjective, noun, proper noun
Forms cunnings
- adjective Sly; crafty; clever in surreptitious behaviour.
- adjective (obsolete) Skillful, artful.
- adjective (obsolete) Wrought with, or exhibiting, skill or ingenuity; ingenious. “cunning work”
- adjective (Maine, colloquial, dated) Cute, appealing.
- noun Practical knowledge or experience; aptitude in performance; skill, proficiency; dexterity.
- noun Practical skill employed in a secret or crafty manner; craft; artifice; skillful deceit; art or magic.
- noun The disposition to employ one's skill in an artful manner; craftiness; guile; artifice; skill of being cunning, sly, conniving, or deceitful.
- noun The natural wit or instincts of an animal. “the cunning of the fox or hare”
- noun (obsolete) Knowledge; learning; special knowledge (sometimes implying occult or magical knowledge).
- proper noun A surname.
Synonyms
astute artful cautelous crafty devious diabolical foxlike foxy frood guileful shrewd slim sly subtle tricksy tricky vulpine wily craftiness foxship craft foxiness guile slyness wiliness cute dodgy knavish slick clever
Antonyms
artlessness bluntness candor honesty innocence naïveté simplicity veracity
Etymology
From Middle English cunning, kunning, konnyng, alteration of earlier Middle English cunninde, kunnende, cunnand, from Old English cunnende, present participle of cunnan (“to know how to, be able to”), equivalent to con + -ing. Cognate with Scots cunnand (“cunning”), German könnend (“able to do”), Icelandic kunnandi (“cunning”). More at con, can.
From Middle English cunning, kunnyng, partially from Old English *cunning (verbal noun), from Old English cunnan (“to know how to, be able to”); partially from Old English cunnung (“knowledge, trial, probation, experience, contact, carnal knowledge”), from cunnian (“to search into, try, test, seek for, explore, investigate, experience, have experience of, to make trial of, know”), equivalent to con + -ing.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Knowing; skillfull; dexterous. "A cunning workman." Ex. xxxviii.
- adjective Wrought with, or exibiting, skill or ingenuity; ingenious; curious; as, cunning work.
- noun Knowledge; art; skill; dexterity. [Archaic]
- noun The faculty or act of using stratagem to accomplish a purpose; fraudulent skill or dexterity; deceit; craft.
Etymology [AS. cunnan to know, to be able. See 1st Con, Can.]
Etymology [AS. cunnung trial, or Icel. kunnandi knowledge. See Cunning, a.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “cunning”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details