the.com/cunning
intelligence that skipped the ethics elective.
means skill at getting what you want through cleverness and deception rather than force or honesty.
from from old english cunnan, to know or be able — same root as ken and can, so cunning literally just meant knowing, before knowing got a bad reputation.
old meaningonce meant simply skillful or wise
animal tiefoxes stole the reputation permanently
neutral cousinshrewd sounds smarter, cunning sounds sneakier