# cunning

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈkʌnɪŋ/ · frequency rank #15,999

## Definitions
1. Sly; crafty; clever in surreptitious behaviour.
2. Skillful, artful.
3. Wrought with, or exhibiting, skill or ingenuity; ingenious.
4. Cute, appealing.

## Etymology
From Middle English cunning, kunning, konnyng, alteration of earlier Middle English cunninde, kunnende, cunnand, from Old English cunnende, present participle of cunnan (“to know how to, be able to”), equivalent to con + -ing. Cognate with Scots cunnand (“cunning”), German könnend (“able to do”), Icelandic kunnandi (“cunning”). More at con, can.

## Easily confused with
- **curing** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cunning-vs-curing)
- **cutting** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cunning-vs-cutting)
- **curling** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cunning-vs-curling)
- **cursing** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cunning-vs-cursing)
- **curving** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cunning-vs-curving)
- **cussing** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cunning-vs-cussing)
- **cupping** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cunning-vs-cupping)
- **canning** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/canning-vs-cunning)
- **cloning** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cloning-vs-cunning)
- **cumming** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cumming-vs-cunning)
- **culling** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/culling-vs-cunning)
- **coining** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/coining-vs-cunning)
- **counting** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/counting-vs-cunning)
- **Channing** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/channing-vs-cunning)
- **churning** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/churning-vs-cunning)

## Common misspellings (9)
`ccunning`, `cnuning`, `cuning`, `cuninng`, `cunnign`, `cunningg`, `cunninng`, `cunnnig`, `ucnning`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/cunning