cunning /ˈkʌnɪŋ/

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基本释义

Cunning: able to get what you want in a clever way, especially by tricking or cheating sb.

adj. 狡猾的，奸诈的

外刊例句

Here, too, Smiley’s shadow walked. A plump figure, balding, bespectacled and breathtakingly ordinary; keenly observant, wise, cunning, yet also shy, embarrassed by life, convinced that his clothes were wrong.

也是在这里，小说人物史迈利的影子出现了。他身材微胖，秃顶，戴眼镜，长相极其普通；但他观察力敏锐，聪明且狡黠；也会害羞，生活中总是觉得窘迫，老觉得自己的衣着不合时宜。

《经济学人》

追根溯源

单词cunning和之前学过的单词uncanny一样，都来自can，最初表示“知道，了解”，引申出了“灵巧的，巧妙的”含义，例如：

Plants have evolved cunning defences.

植物已经逐渐形成了巧妙的自我保护能力。

It was a cunning piece of detective work.

那是一篇构思巧妙的侦探作品。

后来cunning词义逐渐加深，产生了贬义，表示“较滑的，奸诈的”，例如：

A spy used cunning

means to find out secrets.

The weasel family is strong, tenacious, sharp-toothed and cunning.

黄鼠狼家族强有力，坚韧，有锋利的牙齿而且狡猾。

还有几个单词的含义和cunning比较接近，例如：

shifty /ˈʃɪfti/

adj. 诡诈的，躲躲闪闪的

crafty /ˈkrɑːfti/

adj. 诡计多端的，狡猾的

sly /slaɪ/

adj. 虚伪的，狡诈的

真题例句

Since the dawn of human ingenuity, people have devised ever more cunning tools to cope with work that is dangerous, boring, burdensome, or just plain nasty.

从人类产生智慧初期至今，人们一直在设计越来越巧妙的工具来应付那些危险的、枯燥的、繁重的或者直接就是肮脏的工作。

《2002考研英语真题》