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Cunning vs Oblique - What's the difference?

cunning | oblique | Related terms |

Cunning is a related term of oblique.


As an adjective cunning

is sly; crafty; clever in surreptitious behaviour.

As a noun cunning

is (obsolete) knowledge; learning; special knowledge (sometimes implying occult or magical knowledge).

As a verb oblique is

.

cunning

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) cunning, kunning, konnyng, alteration of earlier (etyl) cunninde, kunnende, cunnand, from (etyl) cunnende, present participle of . More at (l), (l).

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Sly; crafty; clever in surreptitious behaviour.
  • * South
    • They are resolved to be cunning ; let others run the hazard of being sincere.
  • (obsolete) Skillful, artful.
  • * Bible, Genesis xxv. 27
    • Esau was a cunning hunter.
  • * Bible, Exodus xxxviii. 23
    • a cunning workman
  • * Shakespeare
    • ''Tis beauty truly blent, whose red and white / Nature's own sweet and cunning hand laid on.
  • (obsolete) Wrought with, or exibiting, skill or ingenuity; ingenious.
    • cunning work
  • * Spenser
    • Over them Arachne high did lift / Her cunning web.
  • (US, colloquial, rare) Cute, appealing.
    • a cunning little boy
    (Bartlett)
    Synonyms
    * See also

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) cunning, kunnyng, partially from (etyl) *.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete) Knowledge; learning; special knowledge (sometimes implying occult or magical knowledge).
  • Practical knowledge or experience; aptitude in performance; skill, proficiency; dexterity.
  • * 2005 , .
    • indeed at this very moment he's slipped away with the utmost cunning into a form that's most perplexing to investigate.
  • Practical skill employed in a secret or crafty manner; craft; artifice; skillful deceit.
  • The disposition to employ one's skill in an artful manner; craftiness; guile; artifice; skill of being cunning, sly, conniving, or deceitful.
  • The natural wit or instincts of an animal.
    • the cunning of the fox or hare
    Synonyms
    * (l) * (l) * (l)

    oblique

    English

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Not erect or perpendicular; neither parallel to, nor at right angles from, the base; slanting; inclined.
  • * Cheyne
    • It has a direction oblique to that of the former motion.
  • Not straightforward; indirect; obscure; hence, disingenuous; underhand; perverse; sinister.
  • * Drayton
    • The love we bear our friends Hath in it certain oblique ends.
  • * De Quincey
    • This mode of oblique research, when a more direct one is denied, we find to be the only one in our power.
  • * Wordsworth
    • Then would be closed the restless, oblique eye / That looks for evil, like a treacherous spy.
  • Not direct in descent; not following the line of father and son; collateral.
  • * Baker
    • His natural affection in a direct line was strong, in an oblique but weak.
  • (botany, of leaves) Having the base of the blade asymmetrical, with one side larger or extending further than the other.

    • Derived terms

    * oblique angle * oblique arch * oblique ascension * oblique bridge * oblique case * oblique circle * oblique fire * oblique flank * oblique line * oblique motion * oblique muscle * oblique narration * oblique plane * oblique sailing * oblique speech * oblique sphere * oblique step * oblique system of coordinates

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (geometry) An oblique line.
  • The punctuation sign "/"
  • (grammar) The oblique case.

    • Verb

  • To deviate from a perpendicular line; to move in an oblique direction.
  • * Projecting his person towards it in a line which obliqued from the bottom of his spine. - Sir. W. Scott.
  • (military) To march in a direction oblique to the line of the column or platoon; — formerly accomplished by oblique steps, now by direct steps, the men half-facing either to the right or left.
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