Hypertext Webster Gateway: "cunning"

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Cunning \Cun"ning\ (k[u^]n"n[i^]ng), a. [AS. cunnan to know, to
be able. See 1st {Con}, {Can}.]
1. Knowing; skillful; dexterous. ``A cunning workman.'' --
Ex. xxxviii. 23.

``Tis beauty truly blent, whose red and white
Nature's own sweet and cunning hand laid on. --Shak.

Esau was a cunning hunter. --Gen xxv. 27.

2. Wrought with, or exhibiting, skill or ingenuity;
ingenious; curious; as, cunning work.

Over them Arachne high did lift

Her cunning web. --Spenser.

3. Crafty; sly; artful; designing; deceitful.

They are resolved to be cunning; let others run the
hazard of being sincere. --South.

4. Pretty or pleasing; as, a cunning little boy. [Colloq.
U.S.] --Barlett.

Syn: {Cunning}, {Artful}, {Sly}, {Wily}, {Crafty}.

Usage: These epithets agree in expressing an aptitude for
attaining some end by peculiar and secret means.
Cunning is usually low; as, a cunning trick. Artful is
more ingenious and inventive; as, an artful device.
Sly implies a turn for what is double or concealed;
as, sly humor; a sly evasion. Crafty denotes a talent
for dexterously deceiving; as, a crafty manager. Wily
describes a talent for the use of stratagems; as, a
wily politician. ``Acunning man often shows his
dexterity in simply concealing. An artful man goes
further, and exerts his ingenuity in misleading. A
crafty man mingles cunning with art, and so shapes his
actions as to lull suspicions. The young may be
cunning, but the experienced only can be crafty.
Slyness is a vulgar kind of cunning; the sly man goes
cautiously and silently to work. Wiliness is a species
of cunning or craft applicable only to cases of attack
and defense.'' --Crabb.

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Cunning \Cun"ning\, n. [AS. cunnung trial, or Icel. kunnandi
knowledge. See {Cunning}, a.]
1. Knowledge; art; skill; dexterity. [Archaic]

Let my right hand forget her cunning. --Ps. cxxxvii.
5.

A carpenter's desert Stands more in cunning than in
power. --Chapman.

2. The faculty or act of using stratagem to accomplish a
purpose; fraudulent skill or dexterity; deceit; craft.

Discourage cunning in a child; cunning is the ape of
wisdom. --Locke.

We take cunning for a sinister or crooked wisdom.
--Bacon.

From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)

cunning
adj 1: attractive especially by means of smallness or prettiness or
quaintness; "a cute kid with pigtails"; "a cute little
apartment"; "cunning kittens"; "a cunning baby" [syn:
{cute}]
2: marked by skill in deception; "cunning men often pass for
wise"; "deep political machinations"; "a foxy scheme"; "a
slick evasive answer"; "sly as a fox"; "tricky Dick"; "a
wily old attorney" [syn: {crafty}, {dodgy}, {foxy}, {guileful},
{knavish}, {slick}, {sly}, {tricksy}, {tricky}, {wily}]
3: showing inventiveness and skill; "a clever gadget"; "the
cunning maneuvers leading to his success""; "an ingenious
solution to the problem" [syn: {clever}, {ingenious}]
n 1: shrewdness in deception; "as cunning as a fox"
2: shrewdness as demonstrated by being skilled in deception
[syn: {craft}, {craftiness}, {foxiness}, {guile}, {slyness},
{wiliness}]
3: drafty artfulness (especially in deception)


Additional Hypertext Webster Gateway Lookup

Enter word here:
Exact Approx


dict.stokkie.net
Gateway by dict@stokkie.net
stock only wrote the gateway and does not have any control over the contents; see the Webster Gateway FAQ, and also the Back-end/database links and credits.