Instinct vs Cunning - What's the difference?
instinct | cunning |
A natural or inherent impulse or behaviour.
* Shakespeare
* {{quote-book
, year=1921
, title=
, author=Bertrand Russell
, passage=In spite of these qualifications, the broad distinction between instinct and habit is undeniable. To take extreme cases, every animal at birth can take food by instinct, before it has had opportunity to learn; on the other hand, no one can ride a bicycle by instinct, though, after learning, the necessary movements become just as automatic as if they were instinctive.}}
An intuitive reaction not based on rational conscious thought.
(archaic) Imbued, charged ((with) something).
* Milton
* Brougham
* 1928 , (HP Lovecraft), ‘The Call of Cthulhu’:
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.
As nouns the difference between instinct and cunning
is that instinct is a natural or inherent impulse or behaviour while cunning is (obsolete) knowledge; learning; special knowledge (sometimes implying occult or magical knowledge).As adjectives the difference between instinct and cunning
is that instinct is (archaic) imbued, charged ((with) something) while cunning is sly; crafty; clever in surreptitious behaviour.instinct
English
(wikipedia instinct)Noun
- Many animals fear fire by instinct .
- By a divine instinct , men's minds mistrust / Ensuing dangers.
- an instinct''' for order; to be modest by '''instinct
- Debbie's instinct was to distrust John.
Derived terms
* instinctively * instinctiveAdjective
(en adjective)- The chariot of paternal deity / Itself instinct with spirit, but convoyed / By four cherubic shapes.
- a noble performance, instinct with sound principle
- This thing, which seemed instinct with a fearsome and unnatural malignancy, was of a somewhat bloated corpulence, and squatted evilly on a rectangular block or pedestal covered with undecipherable characters.
External links
* * ----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