All 5 Uses of
cunning
in
The Return of the King
- Though I do not doubt that Wormtongue at home wrapped their meaning in terms more cunning.†
Chpt 5.8cunning = good at achieving goals through cleverness and deception
- And he entered the service of the Dark Tower when it first rose again, and because of his cunning he grew ever higher in the Lord's favour; and he learned great sorcery, and knew much of the mind of Sauron; and he was more cruel than any orc.†
Chpt 5.10 *
- Its eastern face stood up in three great tiers from a shelf in the mountain-wall far below; its back was to a great cliff behind, from which it jutted out in pointed bastions, one above the other, diminishing as they rose, with sheer sides of cunning masonry that looked north-east and south-east.†
Chpt 6.1
- Then Eowyn gave to Merry an ancient horn, small but cunningly wrought all of fair silver with a baldric of green; and wrights had engraven upon it swift horsemen riding in a line that wound about it from the tip to the mouth; and there were set runes of great virtue.†
Chpt 6.6cunningly = in a manner that is clever and typically that includes tricking others
- Treebeard gave Gandalf a long look, a most cunning look, Merry thought.†
Chpt 6.6cunning = good at achieving goals through cleverness and deception
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.