1. [n]  drafty artfulness (especially in deception)
2. [n]  shrewdness as demonstrated by being skilled in deception
3. [n]  shrewdness in deception; "as cunning as a fox"
4. [adj]  showing inventiveness and skill; "a clever gadget"; "the cunning maneuvers leading to his success"; "an ingenious solution to the problem"
5. [adj]  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"
6. [adj]  attractive especially by means of smallness or prettiness or quaintness; "a cute kid with pigtails"; "a cute little apartment"; "cunning kittens"; "a cunning baby"

Cunning
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1. \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.
   

2. \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.