English Explanatory Dictionary

cunning

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Sly; crafty; clever in surreptitious behaviour.
  2. Skillful, artful.
  3. Wrought with, or exhibiting, skill or ingenuity; ingenious.
  4. Cute, appealing.
noun
  1. Practical knowledge or experience; aptitude in performance; skill, proficiency; dexterity.
  2. Practical skill employed in a secret or crafty manner; craft; artifice; skillful deceit; art or magic.
  3. The disposition to employ one's skill in an artful manner; craftiness; guile; artifice; skill of being cunning, sly, conniving, or deceitful.
  4. The natural wit or instincts of an animal.
  5. Knowledge; learning; special knowledge (sometimes implying occult or magical knowledge).
name
  1. A surname.

Pronunciation

en-us-cunning.ogg /ˈkʌnɪŋ/

Word forms

cunning more cunning most cunning cunnings

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.

Synonyms

astute artful cautelous crafty cunning devious diabolical foxlike foxy frood guileful shrewd slim sly subtle tricksy tricky vulpine wily craftiness foxship list abet art beguilement craft dodge foxiness guile slyness subtlety wile wiliness

Antonyms

artlessness bluntness candor honesty innocence naïveté simplicity veracity

Related words

wily

Derived words

cunning folk cunning linguist cunning linguistics cunningly cunning man cunningness cunning woman overcunning uncunning wortcunning
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