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cunning

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The definition of cunning is something done with ingenuity or clever deception.

(adjective)

An example of cunning is the way a racoon gets into a closed garbage can.

See cunning in Webster's New World College Dictionary

adjective

Now Rare skillful or clever
skillful in deception; sly; crafty
made or done with skill or ingenuity
☆ attractive or pretty in a delicate way; cute

Origin: ME, having skill, knowing < prp. of cunnen, to know: see can

noun

Now Rare clever proficiency; skill
skill in deception; slyness; craftiness

Related Forms:

cunningly adverb
cunningness noun

See cunning in American Heritage Dictionary 4

cun·ning

adjective

Marked by or given to artful subtlety and deceptiveness.
Executed with or exhibiting ingenuity.
Delicately pleasing; pretty or cute: a cunning pet.

noun

Skill in deception; guile.
Skill or adeptness in execution or performance; dexterity.

Origin: Middle English, present participle of connen, to know, from Old English cunnan; see gnō- in Indo-European roots.

Related Forms:

cunningly cunˈning·ly adverb

cunningness cunˈning·ness noun

See cunning in Ologies

Cunning

callidity

Rare. skill or craftiness. —callid, adj.

Jesuitism

crafty or deceitful practice. —jesuitic, jesuitical, adj.

jiggery-pokery

subterfuge or devious and underhanded behavior; low cunning.

oneupmanship

the art or process of gaining the advantage in situations by means of crafty or ingenious ploys.

tergiversation

1. the act or process of subterfuge or evasion.

2. the abandoning of a cause or belief; apostasy. —tergiversator, n.

vulpinism

Rare. the state or quality of being foxlike, especially crafty or cunning. —vulpine, adj.

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