Both Uses of
cunning
in
Babbitt
- Facing them, on two movable leather chairs, were Paul and a lanky, old-fashioned man, very cunning, with wrinkles bracketing his mouth.†
Chpt 10cunning = good at achieving goals through cleverness and deception
- He towed her about the room, bumping into other couples, into the radiator, into chair-legs cunningly ambushed.†
Chpt 29 *cunningly = in a manner that is clever and typically that includes tricking others
Definitions:
-
(1)
(cunning as in: a cunning thief) being good at achieving goals through cleverness -- and typically through deception as well (tricking others)
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
At one time, cunning was also used as a synonym for cute.