Search Result for "cunning": 
Wordnet 3.0

NOUN (2)

1. shrewdness as demonstrated by being skilled in deception;
[syn: craft, craftiness, cunning, foxiness, guile, slyness, wiliness]

2. crafty artfulness (especially in deception);


ADJECTIVE (3)

1. attractive especially by means of smallness or prettiness or quaintness;
- Example: "a cute kid with pigtails"
- Example: "a cute little apartment"
- Example: "cunning kittens"
- Example: "a cunning baby"
[syn: cunning, cute]

2. marked by skill in deception;
- Example: "cunning men often pass for wise"
- Example: "deep political machinations"
- Example: "a foxy scheme"
- Example: "a slick evasive answer"
- Example: "sly as a fox"
- Example: "tricky Dick"
- Example: "a wily old attorney"
[syn: crafty, cunning, dodgy, foxy, guileful, knavish, slick, sly, tricksy, tricky, wily]

3. showing inventiveness and skill;
- Example: "a clever gadget"
- Example: "the cunning maneuvers leading to his success"
- Example: "an ingenious solution to the problem"
[syn: clever, cunning, ingenious]



The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

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.
      [1913 Webster]

            "Tis beauty truly blent, whose red and white
            Nature's own sweet and cunning hand laid on. --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

            Esau was a cunning hunter.            --Gen xxv. 27.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Wrought with, or exhibiting, skill or ingenuity;
      ingenious; curious; as, cunning work.
      [1913 Webster]

            Over them Arachne high did lift

            Her cunning web.                      --Spenser.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. Crafty; sly; artful; designing; deceitful.
      [1913 Webster]

            They are resolved to be cunning; let others run the
            hazard of being sincere.              --South.
      [1913 Webster]

   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. 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.
          [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Cunning \Cun"ning\, n. [AS. cunnung trial, or Icel. kunnandi
   knowledge. See Cunning, a.]
   1. Knowledge; art; skill; dexterity. [Archaic]
      [1913 Webster]

            Let my right hand forget her cunning. --Ps. cxxxvii.
                                                  5.
      [1913 Webster]

            A carpenter's desert
            Stands more in cunning than in power. --Chapman.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. The faculty or act of using stratagem to accomplish a
      purpose; fraudulent skill or dexterity; deceit; craft.
      [1913 Webster]

            Discourage cunning in a child; cunning is the ape of
            wisdom.                               --Locke.
      [1913 Webster]

            We take cunning for a sinister or crooked wisdom.
                                                  --Bacon.
      [1913 Webster]


WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

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:
           cunning, 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, cunning, 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, cunning,
       ingenious]
    n 1: shrewdness as demonstrated by being skilled in deception
         [syn: craft, craftiness, cunning, foxiness,
         guile, slyness, wiliness]
    2: crafty artfulness (especially in deception)


The Devil's Dictionary (1881-1906):

CUNNING, n.  The faculty that distinguishes a weak animal or person
from a strong one.  It brings its possessor much mental satisfaction
and great material adversity.  An Italian proverb says:  "The furrier
gets the skins of more foxes than asses."