cunninglyadv.
/ˈkʌnɪŋli/, U.S. /ˈkənɪŋli/ In a cunning manner.
1. With skill, knowledge, or wisdom; wisely, cleverly, knowingly. Obsolete or archaic.In early quots. often = ‘with good breeding, politely’.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > understanding > intelligence, cleverness > [adverb]
craftilyeOE
craftlyOE
smeighlyc1200
slylyc1275
quaintlyc1300
wittily1362
cunninglyc1385
subtilelyc1405
knowinglyc1450
industriouslyc1487
ingeniously1548
cleanly1583
intelligently1601
dexterously1605
conceitedly1606
cleverly1654
gnostically1823
comprehendingly1866
brainily1905
the world > action or operation > behaviour > good behaviour > [adverb] > in a well-mannered way > in a refined or polished manner
cunninglyc1385
refinedly1645
politely1748
urbanely1789
polishedly1889
c1385 G. Chaucer Legend Good Women Hypsipyle. 1485 Fful cunnyngely these lordes two he grette.
1413 J. Lydgate Pilgr. of Sowle (1859) iv. xxxviii. 63 He salewed hyr goodly, and she welcomed hym ful connyngly, as she wel couthe.
c1425 Wyntoun Cron. v. xii. 275 Hucheown..In-til his gest hystoriale Has tretyd þis mar cunnandly.
c1480 (a1400) St. Theodora 402 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 110 Hyme ful connandly scho gret.
a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1994) I. xviii. 212 This barne..That carpys thus conandly.
?1520 J. Rastell Nature .iiii. Element sig. Cvij He hath expowynd connyngly Dyuers poyntes of Cosmogryfy.
c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 838 Iason carpes to the kyng, conyngly he said.
1592 R. Dallington tr. F. Colonna Hypnerotomachia f. 92 Which thoughts were bewraied by my countenance... Which she cunningly perceiuing [etc.].
1870 W. Morris Earthly Paradise: Pt. III 341 Two wise men..who can Talk cunningly about the ways of man.
2. With skilful art. (Now a literary archaism.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > ability > skill or skilfulness > [adverb] > with skill or art > ingeniously
craftilyeOE
wiselya1000
guisily13..
quaintc1300
quaintlyc1300
subtly1340
cunningly?a1400
subtilelyc1405
subtilelyc1405
prettilyc1450
industriouslyc1487
ingeniously1548
clerkly1594
ambidextrously1657
?a1400 Chester Pl. (Shaks. Soc.) I. 114 He so cuninglye this worcke caste.
1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde i. vi. f. 31 Chayers and stooles..very coonningely wrowght.
a1674 J. Milton Brief Hist. Moscovia (1682) ii. 27 They shoot wondrous cunningly; their Arrow heads are sharpned Stones.
1836–48 B. D. Walsh tr. Aristophanes Clouds i. iv Cunningly-wrought halls.
1883 R. Gower My Reminisc. II. xxi. 52 Inigo Jones..decorated the front of Kirby..in cunningly carved stone.
3. With knowledge employed to conceal facts or designs, or to deceive or circumvent; craftily, artfully. (The current sense.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > ability > skill or skilfulness > cunning > [adverb]
foxlyc1175
craftilyc1225
craftlyc1225
slylyc1275
fellyc1300
quaintc1300
quaintlyc1325
sleightlyc1330
subtly1340
sly1370
espyinglya1382
wisely1390
wililya1400
wilyc1400
subtilelyc1405
ginnouslya1425
semylyc1440
serpentlya1450
small?c1450
cautelously1477
politicly1477
sleightfullyc1480
artificiously1536
insidiously1545
sleightily1549
artificially1566
cunningly1603
versutely1616
artfully1631
subdolously1638
serpentinely1656
slimlya1680
pawkily1714
politically1764
trickfullyc1790
trickishly1824
leerily1859
dodgily1868
trickily1895
foxily1933
1603 R. Knolles Gen. Hist. Turkes 48 So cunningly had he vnder the vaile of pietie, shadowed his most execrable treacherie.
1622 R. Hawkins Observ. Voiage South Sea xxx. 68 The cunninglier to colour their greatest disorders, and robberies.
1719 in T. D'Urfey Wit & Mirth IV. 201 Women are..cunningly Coy.
1856 E. K. Kane Arctic Explor. I. xi. 124 Your lash..is apt to..fasten itself cunningly round bits of ice.
1867 E. O. M. Deutsch Lit. Remains (1874) 8 He saw the cunningly-laid trap.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1893; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adv.c1385