CUNNING

CUN'NING is used in the Bible in its original sense of "knowing," "skilful." Gen 25:27; 1 Sam 16:16, etc. In 2 Pet 1:16 the word "cunningly" is used in a similar sense.

Part of speech: noun (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. Chapman.

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. Locke. We take cunning for a sinister or crooked wisdom. Bacon.

Part of speech: adjective (a.)

1. Knowing; skillfull; dexterous. "A cunning workman." Ex. xxxviii. 23. "Tis beauty truly blent, whose red and white Nature's own sweet and cunning hand laid on. Shak. Esau was a cunning hunter. Gen xxv. 27.

2. Wrought with, or exibiting, skill or ingenuity; ingenious; curious; as, cunning work. Over them Arachne high did lift Her cunning web. Spenser.

3. Crafty; sly; artful; designid; deceitful. They are resolved to be cunning; let others run the hazard of being sincere. South.

4. Pretty or pleasing; as, a cunning little boy. [Colloq. U.S.] Barlett.

Synonyms: 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. "Acunning 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 defence." Crabb.