GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

last match results

Found 2 definitions

1.       
   Cunning , a. [AS. cunnan to know, to be able. See 1st Con, Can.]
   Knowing; skillful; dexterous. “A cunning workman.” 
    Ex. xxxviii. 23.
   
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   “Tis beauty truly blent, whose red and white
   Nature's own sweet and cunning hand laid on.
   Shak.
   
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   Esau was a cunning hunter.
   Gen xxv. 27.
   
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   Wrought with, or exhibiting, skill or ingenuity; ingenious; curious; as, cunning work.
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   Over them Arachne high did lift
   Her cunning web.
   Spenser.
   
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   Crafty; sly; artful; designing; deceitful.
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   They are resolved to be cunning; let others run the hazard of being sincere.
   South.
   
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   Pretty or pleasing; as, a cunning little boy. [Colloq. U.S.]
   Barlett.
   Syn. -- Cunning, Artful, Sly, Wily, Crafty. -- 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. A cunning 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.
   
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2.       
   Cunning, n. [AS. cunnung trial, or Icel. kunnandi knowledge. See Cunning, a.]
   Knowledge; art; skill; dexterity. [Archaic]
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   Let my right hand forget her cunning.
   Ps. cxxxvii. 5.
   
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   A carpenter's desert
   Stands more in cunning than in power.
   Chapman.
   
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   The faculty or act of using stratagem to accomplish a purpose; fraudulent skill or dexterity; deceit; craft.
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   Discourage cunning in a child; cunning is the ape of wisdom.
   Locke.
   
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   We take cunning for a sinister or crooked wisdom.
   Bacon.
   
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