cunning
Practical knowledge or experiencePractical knowledge or experience; aptitude in performance; skill, proficiency; dexterity.
Recorded US: Dvortygirl, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Meaning
5 senses(countable, uncountable)Practical knowledge or experience; aptitude in performance; skill, proficiency; dexterity.
уме́ниеuménije, иску́сствоiskússtvo
(countable, uncountable)Practical skill employed in a secret or crafty manner; craft; artifice; skillful deceit; art or magic.
(countable, uncountable)The disposition to employ one's skill in an artful manner; craftiness; guile; artifice; skill of being cunning, sly, conniving, or deceitful.
Gerissenheit
кова́рствоkovárstvo, хи́тростьxítrostʹ
(countable, uncountable)The natural wit or instincts of an animal.
the cunning of the fox or hare
(countable, obsolete, uncountable)Knowledge; learning; special knowledge (sometimes implying occult or magical knowledge).
- crafty artfulness (especially in deception)
- shrewdness as demonstrated by being skilled in deception
Examples
56 sentencesTom is very cunning.
ruТом очень хитёр. — odexed
What a cunning man!
deWas für ein schlauer Fuchs! — Waldelfe
What a cunning person!
deWas für ein schlauer Fuchs! — Waldelfe
What a cunning plan!
deWas für ein gerissener Plan! — Pfirsichbaeumchen
Tom is cunning and calculating.
Translations
8 languagesBy meaning 2
By meaning 1
Origin
From Middle English cunning, kunnyng, partially from Old English *cunning (verbal noun), fFrom 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.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: cunningsSynonyms
15 synonymsAntonyms
8 antonymsWord family
2 related wordsLessons for this word
1 lessons- A1Countable and uncountable nouns — Because it can be uncountable
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.