Cunning
Cunning (kun"ning) , adjective
[Anglo-Saxon cunnan to know, to be able. See 1st Con, Can.]
1.
Knowing; skillful; dexterous.
A cunning workman.
“Tis beauty truly blent, whose red and white
Nature's own sweet and cunning hand laid on.
Esau was a cunning hunter.
2.
Wrought with, or exhibiting, skill or ingenuity; ingenious; curious; as, cunning work.
Over them Arachne high did lift
Her cunning web.
3.
Crafty; sly; artful; designing; deceitful.
They are resolved to be cunning; let others run the hazard of being sincere.
4.
Pretty or pleasing; as, a cunning little boy. [Colloquial United States] — Barlett
Cunning , noun
[Anglo-Saxon cunnung trial, or Icelandic kunnandi knowledge. See Cunning, a.]
1.
Knowledge; art; skill; dexterity. [Archaic]
Let my right hand forget her cunning.
A carpenter's desert
Stands more in cunning than in power.
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.
We take cunning for a sinister or crooked wisdom.