cunningness
Wily mental agility
Cunningness is the quality of being cunning—shrewd, crafty, or skilled at achieving one's ends through indirect or deceptive means.
The word carries a slightly negative connotation, suggesting slyness rather than straightforward intelligence: The fox's cunningness allowed it to evade the hunters.
Cunning is the more common noun form.
Keen practical judgment
- astutenessShrewd perceptiveness
- wilinessShrewd deceptive cleverness
- sharpnessKeenness of edge, mind, or image
- quick-wittednessMental speed and cleverness
savvy · acumen · resourcefulness · guile · slyness · foxiness · artfulness · craftiness
Deliberate deception or fraud
- deceitDeliberate misleading of others
- duplicityDeliberate misleading behavior
- subterfugeDeliberate deception to conceal
- chicaneryDeception through clever manipulation
fraud · sham · pretense · imposture · dissembling · falseness · double-dealing · treachery
Crafty and calculating
- machinationCrafty scheming, often hostile
- maneuveringSkillful directional control
- connivingSecretly planning wrongdoing
- plottingDevising a secret plan
intrigue · exploitation · coercion · engineering · orchestration · string-pulling · leverage · powerplay
Methods to achieve goals
- planningArranging for future events
- calculationMathematical problem-solving process
- foresightAbility to anticipate futures
- chessStrategic board game
gamesmanship · outmaneuvering · outwitting · one-upmanship · positioning · anticipation · forethought · counterplay
Secretive, evasive behavior
- covertnessQuality of being hidden
- sneakinessFurtive, deceptive quality
- secretivenessInclination to conceal
- stealthinessUndetectable movement quality
evasiveness · clandestineness · surreptitious · cloak-and-dagger · shadiness · skulking · creeping · prowling
shrewdness
Keen practical judgment
- astutenessShrewd perceptiveness
- wilinessShrewd deceptive cleverness
- sharpnessKeenness of edge, mind, or image
quick-wittedness · savvy · acumen · resourcefulness · guile · slyness · foxiness · artfulness · craftiness · slickness
trickery
Deliberate deception or fraud
- deceitDeliberate misleading of others
- duplicityDeliberate misleading behavior
- subterfugeDeliberate deception to conceal
chicanery · fraud · sham · pretense · imposture · dissembling · falseness · double-dealing · treachery · two-facedness
scheming
Crafty and calculating
- machinationCrafty scheming, often hostile
- maneuveringSkillful directional control
- connivingSecretly planning wrongdoing
plotting · intrigue · exploitation · coercion · engineering · orchestration · string-pulling · leverage · powerplay · gerrymandering
tactics
Methods to achieve goals
- planningArranging for future events
- calculationMathematical problem-solving process
- foresightAbility to anticipate futures
chess · gamesmanship · outmaneuvering · outwitting · one-upmanship · positioning · anticipation · forethought · counterplay · gambits
furtiveness
Secretive, evasive behavior
- covertnessQuality of being hidden
- sneakinessFurtive, deceptive quality
- secretivenessInclination to conceal
stealthiness · evasiveness · clandestineness · surreptitious · cloak-and-dagger · shadiness · skulking · creeping · prowling · invisibility
cunningnesshonesty
Truthfulness, sincerity
integrity · uprightness · righteousness · virtuousness · probity
cunningnesscandor
Unguarded truthfulness
forthrightness · frankness · directness · openness · plainspokenness
cunningnessguilelessness
Absence of cunning
artlessness · ingenuousness · naivety · innocence · simplicity