Meanings
nouncunning woman (plural cunning women)
plural cunning women
- historicalA witch or sorceress.
Joan Warden of Stapleford, Cambridgeshire, when charged in 1592 with being a cunning woman, declared that 'she doth not use any charms, but that she doth use ointments and herbs to cure many diseases'.
1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, Folio Society, page 185
Cite this entry
APA
cunning woman. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cunning%20woman
MLA
“cunning woman.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cunning%20woman. Accessed November 5, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cunning woman,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cunning%20woman.
Source: cunning woman on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.