adj.
- skilled in achieving one's ends by deceit or evasion.
- clever; ingenious.
- N. Amer. attractive; charming.
n.
- craftiness.
- ingenuity.
Derivative
- cunningly adv.
- cunningness n.
Etymology
ME (in the sense ‘(possessing) erudition or skill’): perh. from ON kunnandi ‘knowledge’, from kunna ‘know’ (rel. to can1), or perh. from ME cunne, an obs. var. of can1.