cunning

See also: Cunning

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (US)

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• Rhymes: -ʌnɪŋ
• IPA^(key): /ˈkʌnɪŋ/

Etymology 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.

Adjective

cunning (comparative more cunning, superlative most cunning)

1. Sly; crafty; clever in surreptitious behaviour.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:wily

   • 1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, 6th edition, volumes (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: […] J[ames] Bettenham, for Jonah Bowyer, […], published 1727, →OCLC:

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

2. (obsolete) Skillful, artful.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 25:27:

     Esau was a cunning hunter.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Exodus 38:23:

     a cunning workman

   • c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene v]:

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

3. (obsolete) Wrought with, or exhibiting, skill or ingenuity; ingenious.

   cunning work

   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 29:

     Over them Arachne high did lift / Her cunning web.

4. (US, colloquial, dated) Cute, appealing.
   • 1857, Barbara H. Channing, The Sisters Abroad, Or, an Italian Journey:

     everybody gives something to the cunning little boy; his eyes are large and soft, and he wears a pointed hat, and tight breeches, and jacket

   • 1869–1870, Louisa M[ay] Alcott, chapter XV, in An Old-Fashioned Girl, Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, published 1870, →OCLC:

     “I shan't mind that at all, I like the little house 'cause it's got a garden, and there's a cunning room with a three-cornered closet in it that I always wanted. […] ”

Derived terms

• cunning folk
• cunning linguist
• cunning linguistics
• cunningly
• cunning man
• cunningness
• cunning woman
• overcunning
• uncunning
• カンニング

Translations

sly

• Arabic: مَاكِر‎ (mākir)
• Armenian: խորամանկ (hy) (xoramank)
• Belarusian: хі́тры (be) (xítry)
• Bulgarian: лука́в (bg) (lukáv), кова́рен (bg) (kováren), хи́тър (bg) (hítǎr)
• Catalan: astut (ca), murri (ca), maquiavèl·lic (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 狡猾 (zh) (jiǎohuá), 狡詐／狡诈 (zh) (jiǎozhà), 狡黠 (zh) (jiǎoxiá)

• Czech: prohnaný, mazaný, vychytralý (cs)
• Dutch: sluw (nl), doortrapt (nl), geslepen (nl), leep (nl)
• Esperanto: ruza (eo)
• Finnish: ovela (fi), kiero (fi)
• French: rusé (fr)
• Galician: renarte, tréfego m, xistrón m, solerte, sangual, pillabán (gl) m, prosmeiro m, arteiro (gl) m, galdrido m, matreiro m
• Georgian: ცბიერი (cbieri), მზაკვრული (mzaḳvruli), ქვეშქვეშა (kveškveša), ეშმაკი (ešmaḳi)
• German: gerissen (de), schlau (de), listig (de), durchtrieben (de), hinterlistig (de), abgefeimt (de), listenreich, gefinkelt (de), gefitzt (de)
• Gothic: 𐌻𐌹𐍃𐍄𐌴𐌹𐌲𐍃 (listeigs)
• Greek:

  Ancient: κίδαφος (kídaphos), πυκνός (puknós)

• Hungarian: ravasz (hu), dörzsölt (hu), csalafinta (hu), cseles (hu), alattomos (hu)
• Ingrian: veekas
• Irish: glic
• Italian: furbo (it), astuto (it)
• Japanese: 狡猾な (ja) (こうかつな, kōkatsu na)
• Korean: 교활하다 (ko) (gyohwalhada)
• Kott: āru
• Latin: vafer, callidus, versūtus
• Latvian: viltīgs m
• Norman: rusé (Jersey)
• Old Church Slavonic:

  Cyrillic: хꙑтръ (xytrŭ), лѫкавъ (lǫkavŭ)

• Old English: ġēaplīċ
• Ottoman Turkish: آصمق‎ (asmak)
• Persian: مکار‎ (fa) (makkâr), رند‎ (fa) (rend)
• Polish: chytry (pl) m, cwany (pl) m, przebiegły (pl) m, sprytny (pl) m
• Portuguese: astuto (pt), esperto (pt), matreiro (pt)
• Romanian: viclean (ro) m, șiret (ro) m
• Russian: хи́трый (ru) (xítryj), лука́вый (ru) (lukávyj), кова́рный (ru) (kovárnyj), проны́рливый (ru) (pronýrlivyj), до́шлый (ru) (dóšlyj)
• Sanskrit: धूर्त (sa) (dhūrta)
• Scottish Gaelic: seòlta
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: лукав, препреден, подмукао

  Roman: lukav (sh), prepreden (sh), podmukao (sh)

• Slovak: mazaný, prefíkaný (sk)
• Slovene: zvit (sl)
• Spanish: astuto (es), pillo (es), listo (es), cuco (es)
• Swedish: slug (sv), listig (sv)
• Tagalog: tuso
• Ukrainian: хи́трий (xýtryj), лука́вий (lukávyj)

skillful

• Bulgarian: сръчен (bg) (srǎčen), изкусен (bg) (izkusen)
• Catalan: astut (ca), murri (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 巧妙 (zh) (qiǎomiào)

• Czech: šikovný (cs), obratný (cs)
• Dutch: handig (nl), bedreven (nl)
• Finnish: ovela (fi), taitava (fi)
• French: talentueux (fr) m
• Georgian: ცბიერი (cbieri)
• German: geschickt (de), gewandt (de), ausgefuchst (de), gewitzt (de), gewieft (de), clever (de), schlau (de), gefinkelt (de), ausgeklügelt (de), gefinkelt (de), gefitzt (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient: στρεβλός (streblós)

• Hungarian: ügyes (hu)
• Italian: ingegnoso (it)
• Japanese: 狡猾な (ja) (こうかつな, kōkatsu na), 巧妙な (ja) (こうみょうな, kōmyō na)
• Latin: callidus
• Persian: گربز‎ (fa) (gorbez)
• Polish: umiejętny (pl) m, wprawny (pl) m, zręczny (pl) m
• Portuguese: astuto (pt), esperto (pt)
• Romanian: priceput (ro) m
• Russian: уме́лый (ru) (umélyj), иску́сный (ru) (iskúsnyj), ло́вкий (ru) (lóvkij)
• Scottish Gaelic: seòlta
• Slovak: chytrý
• Spanish: astuto (es), ingenioso (es)
• Telugu: నేర్పరి (te) (nērpari)

cute

• Czech: rozkošný, milý (cs), sladký (cs)
• Spanish: cuco (es), mono (es)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: ^{(please verify)} rusé (fr), ^{(please verify)} astucieux (fr), ^{(please verify)} malin (fr)
• Ido: ^{(please verify)} ruzema (io)
• Japanese: ^{(please verify)} 悪賢い (わるがしこい, warugashikoi)
• Norman: ^{(please verify)} malîn (Jersey)
• Norwegian: ^{(please verify)} listig, ^{(please verify)} snedig, ^{(please verify)} slu
• Old English: ^{(please verify)} ġēap
• Telugu: ^{(please verify)} జిత్తులమారి (te) (jittulamāri)

Etymology 2

From Middle English cunning, kunnyng, partially from Old English *cunning (verbal noun), from Old English 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 (countable and uncountable, plural cunnings)

1. Practical knowledge or experience; aptitude in performance; skill, proficiency; dexterity.
   • 2005, Plato, translated by Lesley Brown, Sophist, page 236d:

     indeed at this very moment he's slipped away with the utmost cunning into a form that's most perplexing to investigate.

2. Practical skill employed in a secret or crafty manner; craft; artifice; skillful deceit; art or magic.
   • 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:

     Caliban: As I told thee before, I am subject to a tyrant, a sorcerer that by his cunning hath cheated me of the island.

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.

   the cunning of the fox or hare

5. (obsolete) Knowledge; learning; special knowledge (sometimes implying occult or magical knowledge).

Synonyms

• craftiness
• foxship
• list

Derived terms

• wortcunning

Translations

skill of being sly or deceitful

• Bulgarian: коварство (bg) (kovarstvo), лукавство (bg) n (lukavstvo)
• Chukchi: гыттагыргын (gyttagyrgyn)
• Dutch: sluwheid (nl)
• Finnish: oveluus (fi), kierous (fi)
• French: fourberie (fr) f, sournoiserie (fr) f
• German: Gerissenheit f
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: πανοῦργος (panoûrgos)

• Italian: furberia (it) f, furbizia (it) f
• Japanese: 狡猾 (ja) (こうかつ, kōkatsu)
• Latin: versūtia f
• Macedonian: итрина f (itrina)
• Maori: rauhanga
• Middle English: sleighte
• Norwegian: snedighet m
• Polish: chytrość (pl) f, cwaniactwo (pl) n, przebiegłość (pl) f, spryt (pl) m
• Portuguese: ardil (pt) m, astúcia (pt) f, esperteza (pt) f
• Romanian: viclenie (ro) f
• Russian: кова́рство (ru) n (kovárstvo), хи́трость (ru) f (xítrostʹ)
• Spanish: ardid (es) m, astucia (es) f, cuquería f
• Swedish: list (sv), slughet (sv) c
• Telugu: కపటము (te) (kapaṭamu)

aptitude

• Bulgarian: сръчност (bg) f (srǎčnost), умение (bg) n (umenie)
• Dutch: kundigheid (nl) f
• Finnish: taitavuus (fi)
• Japanese: 狡猾 (ja) (こうかつ, kōkatsu)
• Middle English: sleighte
• Polish: umiejętność (pl) f
• Portuguese: habilidade (pt) f
• Romanian: capacitate (ro) f,
• Russian: уме́ние (ru) n (uménije), иску́сство (ru) n (iskússtvo)
• Spanish: habilidad (es) m, cuquería f
• Telugu: తరహా (te) (tarahā)