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Glite Dictionary
🦊 Clever trickery 🧠 Creative skill
cunningness

cunningness

5.8
Being clever and skillful at making or finding new solutions
  • noun
  • /ˈkʌnɪŋnəs/
translation icon : ingenio
  • Their cunningness allowed them to solve the puzzle faster than anyone else.

Examples

  • Her cunningness impressed everyone.

  • He admired the cunningness with which the artist hid details in the painting.

  • The cunningness of her solution impressed the entire engineering team.

  • The artist's cunningness allowed her to create unique sculptures.

  • The artist's cunningness in blending different materials resulted in a stunning sculpture.

  • Her cunningness allowed her to come up with innovative solutions to complex problems.

  • The engineer's cunningness in designing the project impressed his colleagues and led to its success.

Synonyms

ingenuity
vscunningness
53 6.1

Clever new thinking that finds solutions to problems and makes useful things

is similar but covers general clever skill in creating or designing
cleverness
vscunningness
16 2.8

Quick thinking that finds smart new ideas and solutions

leans more toward practical design skill rather than general quickness
shrewdness
vscunningness
2 6.3

Skill in judging people or situations and using it to gain advantage

is more about inventive creation than tactical advantage in dealings
smartness
vscunningness
1 4.0

The ability to think quickly and act cleverly

focuses instead on creative, skillful making rather than social quickness
adroitness
vscunningness
1 7.5

Ability to do things quickly and well

focuses more on cleverness in creative design than physical skill
canniness
vscunningness
1 7.5

Being careful and clever when making decisions about money

is broader creative cleverness not limited to cautious decision making
ingeniousness
vscunningness
7.2

Being very clever at finding new ways to solve problems and make things

is the broader quality of clever skill beyond pure inventiveness

Antonyms

ineptitude
18 7.4

A lack of skill that makes someone do tasks badly

clumsiness
1 2.6

Lack of skill or care when handling things so mistakes happen

How Clever

brilliance
42 4.1
ingenuity
53 6.1
cunningness
5.8
cleverness
16 2.8

Surface Forms

cunningness singular
cunningnesses plural

Morphology

cunningness = cunning (transparent) = cunning + ness

Regular nominalization of the adjective 'cunning' with '-ness', yielding the state or quality denoted by the adjective.

Etymology

Cunningness comes from an old root cunn- meaning 'to know', the same idea behind the verb can. That 'knowing how' also gives cunningness the sense of 'clever skill or clever ideas', so it can mean smart, skillful thinking in making or solving things.