cunning

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

He was the runner-up in 2022, armed with the cunning plan of writing a good song – the 70s glam rock pastiche Space Man – and being good at performing it.

From BBC • May 17, 2026

"King George, as you know, never set foot in America. And please rest assured, ladies and gentlemen, I am not here as part of some cunning rearguard action."

From Barron's • Apr. 29, 2026

As Simon Elliott describes in his biography “The African Emperor,” Severus was a mercurial and contradictory character, capable by turns of savagery, cunning, wit and generosity, and always blessed with a sense of the theatrical.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 19, 2026

I’d seen the series countless times, often quoting the hilarious lines that she delivered with such singular eccentricity — dripping with sequin-laced cunning.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 5, 2026

There was a stove nearly as big as Chrissie’s, and water was steaming away in a cunning tub at the side which Mother said was called a “reservoir.”

From "Miracles on Maple Hill" by Virginia Sorensen