cunning Hear it!

cunning Definition

cun·ning (kun)

adjective

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

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

noun

  1. Now Rare clever proficiency; skill
  2. skill in deception; slyness; craftiness

cunning Related Forms
cun·ningly adverb cun·ning·ness noun
cunning Synonyms

cunning

modif.

  1. Sly

    crafty, tricky, wily; see sly 1.

  2. Shrewd

    clever, skillful, ingenious; see clever 1, intelligent 1. See syn. study at clever, sly.

cunning Synonyms

cunning

n.

craft, art, shrewdness, subtlety, artifice, craftiness, guile, slyness, deceit, intrigue, chicanery, finesse; see also deception 1.

cunning Usage Examples

Preposition: as

  • fox: A cunning man ( as cunning as a fox from Oxford University ).

Modifies a noun

  • ploy: Perhaps it was a cunning ploy to fool would-be invaders.
  • ruse: We hit on a cunning ruse to save a bit of time!
  • craftiness: They didn't want to be carried about by the cunning craftiness of those who lie in wait to deceive.
  • disguise: Spot the young famous names, sometimes appearing in ` cunning disguise ` .
  • witch: Oh comfrey the comforting, you cunning witch, how I adore you!
  • stunt: In the news today for a cunning stunt at Tate Britain on Friday.

Modifying Another Word

  • extremely: The creature has behaved in an extremely cunning manner, yet I am unsure whether this is a sign of actual intelligence.
  • rather: The bridge was rebuilt, and it was rebuilt in a rather cunning way.
  • very: He soon became a very cunning person with a cut throat business mind.
  • too: Unfortunately, Sheridan seems to be too cunning for his own good.
  • quite: Baldrick: Well, mine's quite cunning, My Lord.
  • so: Then here's to our host, ever anxious to please, And here's to his brewers so cunning!

Infinitive complement

  • get: Jack used cunning to get the giant in a vulnerable position.
  • win: Thus, players must use strategy and cunning to win this game.
  • outwit: Is Milo quick enough to leave the Demons of Ignorance behind, and cunning enough to outwit - among others - the Terrible Trivium?

Used with adjective complement

  • become: The simple becomes cunning, The good becomes perverse.
  • have: To think that some people say that trout have no cunning!
  • get: We all got extremely cunning at this and even when the day's work was over you could not relax.

Preposition: of

  • reason: The phrase ' cunning of reason ' comes from Hegel.
cunning Quotes

Search then the Ruling Passion:There, alone, The wild are constant and the cunning known; The fool consistent, and the false sincere; Priests, princes, women, no dissemblers here. This clue once found, unravels all the rest.

—Pope, Alexander

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

—Bacon, Francis,Viscount St Albans

If a man write little, he had need have a great memory; if he confer little, hehad need have a present wit; and if he read little he had need have much cunning, to seem to know that he doth not.

—Bacon, Francis,Viscount St Albans

   In youth, before I waxe'  d old, The blind boy,Venus' baby, For want of cunning made me bold, In bitter hive to grope for honey.

—Spenser, Edmund

Browse dictionary entries near cunning

  1. cunnilingus
  2. cunner
  3. cuneiform
  4. cuneate
  5. cuneal
  6. cunctation
  7. Cunaxa
  8. cumulus
  9. cumulous
  10. cumulonimbus
  1. Cunningham
  2. cunt
  3. cup
  4. cup of tea
  5. cupbearer
  6. cupboard
  7. cupcake
  8. cupel
  9. cupferron
  10. cupful