Meaning & use
cunning
Skilled at achieving goals through deception or clever, often underhanded, trickery.
See it in a sentence
The fox used a cunning trick to steal the food without waking the farmer.
Her cunning plan fooled everyone on the committee until the very last moment.
A note on using this word
Cunning usually carries a negative or wary connotation, unlike "clever," which is more neutral in tone.
Words with a similar meaning
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
Words with an opposite meaning
Another way to use it
2. noun
Skill in deceiving others or in achieving something through indirect or crafty means.
The prisoner escaped the guarded camp through sheer cunning and careful planning.
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