different between cunning vs sham

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -?n??
• IPA^(key): /?k?n??/

Etymology 1

From Middle English cunning, kunning, konnyng, alteration of earlier Middle English cunninde, kunnende, cunnand, from Old English cunnende, present participle of cunnan (“to know how to, be able to”), equivalent to con +? -ing. Cognate with Scots cunnand (“cunning”), German könnend (“able to do”), Icelandic kunnandi (“cunning”). More at con, can.

Adjective

cunning (comparative more cunning, superlative most cunning)

1. Sly; crafty; clever in surreptitious behaviour.

   • They are resolved to be cunning; let others run the hazard of being sincere.

2. (obsolete) Skillful, artful.

   • Esau was a cunning hunter.

   • a cunning workman
3. (obsolete) Wrought with, or exhibiting, skill or ingenuity; ingenious.

   cunning work
4. (US, colloquial, dated, New England) Cute, appealing.

   a cunning little boy

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Bartlett to this entry?)

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:wily

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English cunning, kunnyng, partially from Old English *cunning (verbal noun), from Old English cunnan (“to know how to, be able to”); partially from Old English cunnung (“knowledge, trial, probation, experience, contact, carnal knowledge”), from cunnian (“to search into, try, test, seek for, explore, investigate, experience, have experience of, to make trial of, know”), equivalent to con +? -ing.

Noun

cunning (countable and uncountable, plural cunnings)

1. Practical knowledge or experience; aptitude in performance; skill, proficiency; dexterity.
   • 2005, Plato, Sophist. Translation by Lesley Brown. 236d.

     indeed at this very moment he's slipped away with the utmost cunning into a form that's most perplexing to investigate.

2. Practical skill employed in a secret or crafty manner; craft; artifice; skillful deceit; art or magic.
   • c. 1610-11, William Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act III scene ii^[1]:

     Caliban: As I told thee before, I am subject to a tyrant, a sorcerer that by his cunning hath cheated me of the island.

3. The disposition to employ one's skill in an artful manner; craftiness; guile; artifice; skill of being cunning, sly, conniving, or deceitful.
4. The natural wit or instincts of an animal.

   the cunning of the fox or hare

5. (obsolete) Knowledge; learning; special knowledge (sometimes implying occult or magical knowledge).

Synonyms

• craftiness
• foxship
• list

Translations

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?æm/
• Rhymes: -æm

Etymology 1

Probably a dialectal form of shame.

Adjective

sham

1. Intended to deceive; false.

2. counterfeit; unreal
   • 1881, Benjamin Jowett, Thucydides

     They scorned the sham independence proffered to them by the Athenians.

Synonyms

• mock
• See also Thesaurus:fake

Antonyms

• genuine
• sincere
• real

Derived terms

• shammish

Translations

Noun

sham (countable and uncountable, plural shams)

1. A fake; an imitation that purports to be genuine.

2. Trickery, hoaxing.

3. A false front, or removable ornamental covering.
4. A decorative cover for a pillow.

Derived terms

• shamateur

Translations

See also

• pillow sham

Verb

sham (third-person singular simple present shams, present participle shamming, simple past and past participle shammed)

1. To deceive, cheat, lie.
2. To obtrude by fraud or imposition.
3. To assume the manner and character of; to imitate; to ape; to feign.

Translations

Etymology 2

Noun

sham (uncountable)

1. (slang) Champagne.
   • (Can we find and add a quotation of William Makepeace Thackeray to this entry?)

     So I orders a bottle, as if for myself; and, 'Ma'am,' says I, 'will you take a glass of Sham — just one?'

Further reading

• sham in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• sham in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• sham at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• AMHS, HMAS, HSAM, Hams, MASH, MHAs, MSHA, Mahs, Mash, SAHM, Sahm, hams, mash

Karakalpak

Etymology

From Arabic ????

Noun

sham

1. candle

Uzbek

Etymology

From Arabic ????

Noun

sham (plural shamlar)

1. candle