cunning
['kʌnɪŋ]
a. 狡猾, 巧妙,

[] 狡猾, 狡诈, 熟练

1. He is as cunning as a fox.
   象狐狸狡猾。
2. She showed her cunning in the way she avoided answering the question.
   她问题而，她很狡猾。
3. Many politicians are cunning sophists.
   许政都狡猾诡辩.

cunning
[ noun ]

1. shrewdness as demonstrated by being skilled in deception

<noun.cognition>

2. crafty artfulness (especially in deception)

<noun.attribute>

[ adj ]

1. attractive especially by means of smallness or prettiness or quaintness

<adj.all>
a cute kid with pigtails
a cute little apartment
cunning kittens
a cunning baby

2. marked by skill in deception

<adj.all>
cunning men often pass for wise
deep political machinations
a foxy scheme
a slick evasive answer
sly as a fox
tricky Dick
a wily old attorney

3. showing inventiveness and skill

<adj.all>
a clever gadget
the cunning maneuvers leading to his success
an ingenious solution to the problem

Cunning \Cun"ning\ (k[u^]n"n[i^]ng), a. [AS. cunnan to know, to
be able. See 1st {Con}, {Can}.]
1. Knowing; skillful; 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 exhibiting, skill or ingenuity;
ingenious; curious; as, cunning work.

Over them Arachne high did lift

Her cunning web. --Spenser.

3. Crafty; sly; artful; designing; 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.

Syn: {Cunning}, {Artful}, {Sly}, {Wily}, {Crafty}.

Usage: 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 defense.'' --Crabb.


Cunning \Cun"ning\, n. [AS. cunnung trial, or Icel. kunnandi
knowledge. See {Cunning}, a.]
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.