• Cunning

    Pronunciation

    • Rhymes: -ÊŒnɪŋ
    • IPA: /ˈkÊŒnɪŋ/

    Origin 1

    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.

    Full definition of cunning

    Adjective

    cunning

    1. Sly; crafty; clever in surreptitious behaviour.
      • SouthThey are resolved to be cunning; let others run the hazard of being sincere.
    2. (obsolete) Skillful, artful.
      • Bible, Genesis xxv. 27Esau was a cunning hunter.
      • Bible, Exodus xxxviii. 23a cunning workman
      • Shakespeare''Tis beauty truly blent, whose red and white
        Nature's own sweet and cunning hand laid on.
    3. (obsolete) Wrought with, or exibiting, skill or ingenuity; ingenious.cunning work
      • SpenserOver them Arachne high did lift
        Her cunning web.
    4. (US, colloquial, rare) Cute, appealing.a cunning little boy

    Synonyms

    Origin 2

    From Middle English cunning, kunnyng, partially from Old English *cunning (verbal noun.), from 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.

    Noun

    cunning

    (plural cunnings)
    1. (obsolete) Knowledge; learning; special knowledge (sometimes implying occult or magical knowledge).
    2. Practical knowledge or experience; aptitude in performance; skill, proficiency; dexterity.
      • 2005, Plato, Sophist. Translation by Lesley Brown. .indeed at this very moment he's slipped away with the utmost cunning into a form that's most perplexing to investigate.
    3. Practical skill employed in a secret or crafty manner; craft; artifice; skillful deceit.
    4. The disposition to employ one's skill in an artful manner; craftiness; guile; artifice; skill of being cunning, sly, conniving, or deceitful.
    5. The natural wit or instincts of an animal.the cunning of the fox or hare

    Synonyms

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