1
- having or showing skill in achieving one's ends by deceit or evasion狡猾的, 狡诈的, 诡诈的：
a cunning look came into his eyes.
他的眼中露出一丝狡猾的神色。
1.1
- ingenious灵巧的, 巧妙的：
plants have evolved cunning defences.
植物已逐步形成了巧妙的自我保护能力。
2
- N. Amer. attractive; quaint〈北美〉可爱的; 好看的; 典雅的：
Baby will look too cunning for anything in that pink print.
婴孩穿上那种粉红色的印花布衣服简直太可爱了。
mass noun
1- skill in achieving one's ends by deceit狡猾, 诡诈, 狡诈：
a statesman to whom cunning had come as second nature
一个狡猾成性的政治家。
1.1
- ingenuity灵巧, 巧妙：
what resources of energy and cunning it took just to survive.
需要有怎样的精力和灵气才能够勉强维持生存呀。
派生词
cunningly
adverbcunningness
noun词源
Middle English: perhaps from Old Norse kunnandi 'knowledge', from kunna 'know' （related to CAN1）, or perhaps from Middle English cunne, an obsolete variant of CAN1. The original sense was '(possessing) erudition or skill' and had no implication of deceit; the sense 'deceitfulness' dates from late Middle English.