1
as in intelligence
exceptional discernment and judgment especially in practical matters
negotiates business deals with all of the proverbial canniness of an old-time horse trader
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in cunning
skill in achieving one's ends through indirect, subtle, or underhanded means
the canniness with which she negotiated her contract as spokesperson for the shoe manufacturer
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for canniness
Noun
-
Cleveland says narcissists often disguise sarcasm as humor, slipping in cutting remarks about your intelligence, competence, or appearance but framing them as playful.—
Angela Haupt,
Time,
30 Oct. 2025 -
However, this requirement can be waived if showing the plates would interfere with investigative, law enforcement, intelligence, or security operations.—
NPR,
NPR,
30 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Coaching successfully in such conditions requires a mixture of humility and self-confidence, as well as a certain cunning.—
Dermot Corrigan,
New York Times,
31 Oct. 2025
-
The story follows Toto, an almost completely blind cat with incredible ninja skills, who must use her courage and cunning to stop a deadly King Cobra that has escaped onto the streets of London, alongside her cheeky brother Silver.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
21 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
The kind of things that had always worked for Lorne — his wit, his charm — just didn’t land.—
Ethan Shanfeld,
Variety,
25 Oct. 2025
-
His wit, taste, and irreverent sense of elegance defined the brand and inspired everyone who worked with him.—
Stephen Garner,
Footwear News,
24 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
There is a real seriousness to the score — the scheming bad-guy music has the artfulness of Prokofiev, and even the sneaking-around cues have musical integrity and structure.—
Tim Greiving,
Vulture,
3 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
And Ten Hag’s training ground shrewdness was meant to correct that.—
Carl Anka,
New York Times,
5 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
People would devote entire dissertations to developing techniques for distinguishing handwritten digits or for recognizing faces in images; then a deep-learning algorithm would digest the underlying data, discover the subtleties of the problem, and make those projects seem obsolete.—
James Somers,
New Yorker,
3 Nov. 2025
-
The subtlety, Johnson says, is where the secret to his impression lies.—
Steven Zeitchik,
HollywoodReporter,
30 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
The guys up at Auburn rave about his intelligence, his football acumen and his work ethic.—
Creg Stephenson | cstephenson@al.com,
al,
20 Jan. 2023
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But Lord knows, there’s a mountain of acumen and perspicacity or, in plain terms, good horse sense stored in those minds and souls.—
Gordon Monson,
The Salt Lake Tribune,
8 Jan. 2023
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Cite this Entry
“Canniness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/canniness. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
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