Cunning /(kŭn"nĭng)/

Cun·ning

Cunning

a.
  1. Knowing; skillful; dexterous.
    “Tis beauty truly blent, whose red and white Nature's own sweet and cunning hand laid on.
    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.
  3. Crafty; sly; artful; designing; deceitful.
    They are resolved to be cunning; let others run the hazard of being sincere.
  4. Pretty or pleasing; as, a cunning little boy. [Colloq. U.S.]
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.

Cunning

n.
  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.
  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.
    We take cunning for a sinister or crooked wisdom.