Cunning Meaning
/ˈkʌnɪŋ/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjSly; crafty; clever in surreptitious behaviour.
adjSkillful, artful.
Sentence Examples
The potter's lost his cunning.
It is said that the fox is more cunning than any other animal.
People say that the fox is more cunning than other animals.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ fox devised an elaborate plan to sneak into the chicken coop unnoticed.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The potter's lost his ____.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English cunning, kunning, konnyng, alteration of earlier Middle English cunninde, kunnende, cunnand, from Old English cunnende, present participle of cunnan (“to know how to, be able to”), equivalent to con + -ing. Cognate with Scots cunnand (“cunning”), German könnend (“able to do”), Icelandic kunnandi (“cunning”). More at con, can.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"They are resolved to be cunning; let others run the hazard of being sincere."
— 1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London:
"Esau was a cunning hunter."
— 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 25:27:
"a cunning workman"
— 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Exodus 38:23:
"Tis beauty truly blent, whose red and white / Nature's own sweet and cunning hand laid on."
— c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene v]:
"Over them Arachne high did lift / Her cunning web."
— 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 29:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ fox devised an elaborate plan to sneak into the chicken coop unnoticed.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The potter's lost his ____.