— cunningly , adv. — cunningness , n.
/kun"ing/ , n.
1. skill employed in a shrewd or sly manner, as in deceiving; craftiness; guile.
2. adeptness in performance; dexterity: The weaver's hand lost its cunning.
adj.
3. showing or made with ingenuity.
4. artfully subtle or shrewd; crafty; sly.
5. Informal. charmingly cute or appealing: a cunning little baby.
6. Archaic. skillful; expert.
v.
7. Obs. ppr. of can 1 .
[ 1275-1325; (n.) ME; OE cunnung, equiv. to cunn ( an ) to know (see CAN 1 ) + -ung -ING 1 ; (adj., v.) ME, prp. of cunnan to know (see CAN 1 , -ING 2 ) ]
Syn. 1. shrewdness, artfulness, wiliness, trickery, finesse, intrigue, slyness, deception. CUNNING, ARTIFICE, CRAFT imply an inclination toward deceit, slyness, and trickery. CUNNING implies a shrewd, often instinctive skill in concealing or disguising the real purposes of one's actions: not intelligence but a low kind of cunning. An ARTIFICE is a clever, unscrupulous ruse, used to mislead others: a successful artifice to conceal one's motives. CRAFT suggests underhand methods and the use of deceptive devices and tricks to attain one's ends: craft and deceitfulness in every act. 2. adroitness. 3. ingenious, skillful. 4. artful, wily, tricky, foxy.