Cunning vs Wise - What's the difference?
cunning | wise |
Sly; crafty; clever in surreptitious behaviour.
* South
(obsolete) Skillful, artful.
* Bible, Genesis xxv. 27
* Bible, Exodus xxxviii. 23
* Shakespeare
(obsolete) Wrought with, or exibiting, skill or ingenuity; ingenious.
* Spenser
(US, colloquial, rare) Cute, appealing.
(obsolete) Knowledge; learning; special knowledge (sometimes implying occult or magical knowledge).
Practical knowledge or experience; aptitude in performance; skill, proficiency; dexterity.
* 2005 , .
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.
Showing good judgement or the benefit of experience.
(colloquial) Disrespectful.
To become wise.
(ergative, slang) Usually with "up", to inform or learn.
(archaic) Way, manner, method.
* 1850 , The Burden of Nineveh , lines 2-5
* 1866 , , A Ballad of Life , lines 28-30
* 1926 , J. S. Fletcher, Sea Fog , page 308
(dialectal) to instruct
(dialectal) to advise; induce
(dialectal) to show the way, guide
(dialectal) to direct the course of, pilot
(dialectal) to cause to turn
As adjectives the difference between cunning and wise
is that cunning is sly; crafty; clever in surreptitious behaviour while wise is showing good judgement or the benefit of experience.As nouns the difference between cunning and wise
is that cunning is knowledge; learning; special knowledge (sometimes implying occult or magical knowledge) while wise is way, manner, method.As a verb wise is
to become wise.As an acronym WISE is
acronym of wing-in-surface effect|lang=en.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)- They are resolved to be cunning ; let others run the hazard of being sincere.
- Esau was a cunning hunter.
- a cunning workman
- ''Tis beauty truly blent, whose red and white / Nature's own sweet and cunning hand laid on.
- cunning work
- Over them Arachne high did lift / Her cunning web.
- a cunning little boy
- (Bartlett)
Synonyms
* See alsoEtymology 2
From (etyl) cunning, kunnyng, partially from (etyl) *.Noun
(en noun)- indeed at this very moment he's slipped away with the utmost cunning into a form that's most perplexing to investigate.
- the cunning of the fox or hare
Synonyms
* (l) * (l) * (l)wise
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) wis, wys, from (etyl) . Cognate with Dutch wijs, German weise, Swedish vis. Compare wit.Adjective
(er)- Storing extra food for the winter was a wise decision.
- They were considered the wise old men of the administration.
- "It is a profitable thing, if one is wise , to seem foolish" - Aeschylus
- Don't get wise with me!
Usage notes
* Objects: person, decision, advice, counsel, saying, etc.Antonyms
* unwise * foolishDerived terms
* crack wise * wisdom * wiseacre * wise apple * wiseass * wisecrack * wise guy * wise-hearted * wiseling * wiselike * wiseness * wizen * wizard * word to the wiseVerb
(wis)- Mo wised him up about his situation.
- ''After Mo had a word with him, he wised up.
Etymology 2
From (etyl) .Noun
(en noun)- ... the prize
- Dead Greece vouchsafes to living eyes, —
- Her Art for ever in fresh wise
- From hour to hour rejoicing me.
- A riven hood was pulled across his eyes;
- The token of him being upon this wise
- Made for a sign of Lust.
- And within a few minutes the rest of us were on our way too, judiciously instructed by Parkapple and the Brighton official, and disposed of in two taxi-cabs, the drivers of which were ordered to convey us to Rottingdean in such wise that each set his load of humanity at different parts of the village and at the same time that the bus was due to arrive at the hotel.