Definition of cunning
- a cunning plotter
- cunning schemes
- a cunning little kitten
- a cunning observation
She was cunning enough to fool me.
a cunning, underhanded plan to win the election by preying on people's fears and prejudices
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'cunning.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
First Known Use: 14th century
in the meaning defined at sense 1
See Words from the same yearartful, beguiling, cagey (also cagy), crafty, cute, designing, devious, foxy, guileful, scheming, shrewd, slick, sly, subtle, tricky, wily;
obvious, open, patent, plain, public, unconcealed;
aboveboard, candid, direct, forthright, frank, honest, natural, outspoken, plainspoken, real, simple, sincere, straightforward, unaffected, unpretending, unpretentious, unvarnished;
childlike, impressionable, simpleminded, unsophisticated, unworldly;
crooked, deceitful, deceptive, dishonest, fraudulent, insinuating, knavish, Machiavellian, oblique, serpentine, shady, shifty, slippery, sneaky, treacherous, underhand, underhanded, unscrupulous;
backhanded, double-dealing, hypocritical, insincere, left-handed, mealy, mealymouthed, smooth-tongued, two-faced;
circuitous, circular, roundabout;
clandestine, concealed, covert, furtive, hugger-mugger, secret, stealthy, surreptitious, undercover;
He may be a fraud, but you have to admire his cunning.
the cunning with which Tom Sawyer was able to get others to whitewash the fence for him
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'cunning.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
First Known Use: 14th century
in the meaning defined at sense 3a
See Words from the same yearartifice, cheating, cozenage, craft, craftiness, crookedness, crookery, cunningness, deceit, deceitfulness, deception, deceptiveness, dishonesty, dissembling, dissimulation, double-dealing, dupery, duplicity, fakery, foxiness, fraud, guile, guilefulness, wiliness;
artlessness, forthrightness, good faith, guilelessness, ingenuousness, sincerity;
candidness, candor, directness, frankness, openness, plainness, plainspokenness;
dependability, reliability, reliableness, solidity, trustability, trustiness, trustworthiness;
decency, goodness, incorruptibility, integrity, righteousness, truthfulness, uprightness, virtuousness;
equivocation, lying, mendacity, prevarication;
chicane, chicanery, fraudulence, hanky-panky, skulduggery (or skullduggery), subterfuge, swindling, trickery, wile;
falsehood, falsity, fib, untruth;
hypocrisy, insincerity, sanctimoniousness, two-facedness;
artfulness, caginess (also cageyness), deviousness, shrewdness;
treacherousness, underhandedness, unscrupulousness;
covertness, furtiveness, secrecy, shadiness, sneakiness, stealthiness;
oiliness, shiftiness, slickness, slipperiness, slyness, smoothness;
: getting what is wanted in a clever and often deceptive way
: cleverness or skill especially at tricking people in order to get something
See words that rhyme with cunning Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for cunning Spanish Central: Translation of cunning Nglish: Translation of cunning for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of cunning for Arabic speakers
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