Synonyms for cunning
ˈkʌn ɪŋcun·ning

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:5.0 / 1 vote

1. cunning

   A contrivance or device may be either good or bad. A cheat is a mean advantage in a bargain; a fraud, any form of covert robbery or injury. Imposture is a deceitful contrivance for securing charity, credit, or consideration. A stratagem or maneuver may be of the good against the bad, as it were a skilful movement of war. A wile is usually but not necessarily evil.

   E'en children followed with endearing wile.

   Goldsmith Deserted Village, l. 184.

   A trick is often low, injurious, and malicious; we say a mean trick; the word is sometimes used playfully with less than its full meaning. A ruse or a blind may be quite innocent and harmless. An artifice is a carefully and delicately prepared contrivance for doing indirectly what one could not well do directly. A device is something studied out for promoting an end, as in a mechanism; the word is used of indirect action, often, but not necessarily directed to an evil, selfish, or injurious end. Finesse is especially subtle contrivance, delicate artifice, whether for good or evil. Compare FRAUD.

   Synonyms:
   art, artifice, blind, cheat, contrivance, craft, device, dodge, finesse, fraud, guile, imposture, invention, machination, maneuver, ruse, stratagem, subterfuge, trick, wile

   Antonyms:
   artlessness, candor, fairness, frankness, guilelessness, honesty, ingenuousness, innocence, openness, simplicity, sincerity, truth

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:4.2 / 6 votes

1. craft, craftiness, cunning, foxiness, guile, slyness, wilinessnoun

   shrewdness as demonstrated by being skilled in deception

   Synonyms:
   foxiness, chicanery, workmanship, shenanigan, slyness, craftiness, wiliness, trickery, chicane, craftsmanship, trade, craft, deceitfulness, wile, guile

   Antonyms:
   unattractive, artless, maladroit

2. cunningadjective

   crafty artfulness (especially in deception)

   Synonyms:
   guile, craftiness, foxiness, wiliness, slyness, craft

   Antonyms:
   maladroit, unattractive, artless

3. cunning, cuteadjective

   attractive especially by means of smallness or prettiness or quaintness

   "a cute kid with pigtails"; "a cute little apartment"; "cunning kittens"; "a cunning baby"

   Synonyms:
   tricky, dodgy, clever, knavish, ingenious, sly, cute, guileful, wily, foxy, crafty, slick, tricksy, precious

   Antonyms:
   artless, unattractive, maladroit

4. crafty, cunning, dodgy, foxy, guileful, knavish, slick, sly, tricksy, tricky, wilyadjective

   marked by skill in deception

   "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"

   Synonyms:
   tricksy, slippery, silky, clever, dicey, slick, sly, cute, satiny, chancy, sleek, catchy, ingenious, chanceful, pat, crafty, silklike, wily, guileful, knavish, dodgy, silken, glib, tricky, foxy

   Antonyms:
   unattractive, maladroit, artless

5. clever, cunning, ingeniousadjective

   showing inventiveness and skill

   "a clever gadget"; "the cunning maneuvers leading to his success"; "an ingenious solution to the problem"

   Synonyms:
   tricksy, canny, clever, cagy, slick, sly, cute, cagey, wily, apt, ingenious, knavish, crafty, guileful, dodgy, tricky, foxy

   Antonyms:
   unattractive, maladroit, artless

Matched Categories

1. • Shrewdness

Dictionary of English SynonymesRate these synonyms:4.3 / 4 votes

1. cunningadjective

   Synonyms:
   crafty, artful, sly, astute, subtle, wily, shrewd, sharp, designing, intriguing, deceitful, TRICKY, crooked, diplomatic, machiavelian

2. cunningnoun

   Synonyms:
   craft, art, shrewdness, artifice, deceit, duplicity, subtlety, intrigue

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated WordsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. cunningadjective

   Synonyms:
   artful, crafty, sly, wily, arch, designing, deceitful, intriguing, curious, ingenious, skillful, dexterous

2. cunningnoun

   Synonyms:
   craft, deceit, craftiness, subtlety, wiliness

PPDB, the paraphrase databaseRate these paraphrases:4.0 / 1 vote

1. List of paraphrases for "cunning":

   ruse, crafty, shrewd, astute, wily, clever, sly, trick, sneaky, foxy, smart, devious, subtle

How to pronounce cunning?

How to say cunning in sign language?

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

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Words popularity by usage frequency

How to use cunning in a sentence?

1. William Blake:

   The weak in courage is strong in cunning.

2. James Joyce:

   I will tell you what I will do and what I will not do. I will not serve that in which I no longer believe, whether it call itself my home, my fatherland, or my church: and I will try to express myself in some mode of life or art as freely as I can and as wholly as I can, using for my defense the only arms I allow myself to use --silence, exile and cunning.

3. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio:

   He's been very cunning about it.

4. Nic Cheeseman:

   Kenyatta has pulled the classic divide-and-rule move of the cunning president, creating as many potential alliances as possible in order to avoid empowering any one successor, this will help him to manage Gideon Moi, William Ruto and others with their own presidential ambitions.

5. Emily Thornberry:

   We need to be absolutely sure that we are not going to end up in a situation where the general election is used as a distraction whilst they (the government) by some cunning wheeze bounce us out of the European Union without a deal.