Meaning

(rare) Crafty, sly, shrewd..

Definitions by Sense

1. (rare) Crafty, sly, shrewd.
2. (rare) Relating to a fox.
3. (rare) Not spiritual or religious; common.

Example Sentences

Vulpinary, [Vulpinaris,L.] crafty, subtile, wily.

It is well known that, in a late Struggle, when a certain vulpinary Stateſman attempted to force himſelf into Power, it was thought a ſufficient Objection to his Claim, that he was honoured with the Friendſhip and Intimacy of an eminent Perſonage, over whom he might be ſuppoſed to have too great an Aſcendancy.

The latter is the name by which this vulpinary veteran of the black art was universally known[…]

Hence have the vulpinary recipients of secret service money been commanded to dress up Toryism in the character of Raw-head-and-Bloody-bones, to scare the day dreams of the dwarfish men with which the nation unfortunately abounds.

The juveniles cast many a vulpinary glance at the forbidden fruit, but turned away with a sour-grape like expression of countenance.

Lord Palmerston’s threatened revelations anent the delicate subject of citizen King duplicity are looked for with some anxiety; and if it be true that Lord Brougham is charged with our vulpinary friend’s vindication, with his acknowledged knight errantry, it would be impossible, one would say, to avoid a collision betwixt Lords and Commons.

Trust the native vine;— The Fox, the Bland, Schuylkill, and Catawba. These have withstood the chill northwestern blast, The burning sun-beams, and the summer's drought, The shade of trees, and most untimely rains. While naught of tillage at the root appears, No pruning knife has lopped the useless growth Of vagrant tendrils, yielding only leaves. What from the matted canopy that spreads, Untutored and at will, its tender shoots Oe'r tall tap-rooted trees, can you expect But grapes, (if grapes at all,) diminutive, And branded with a vulpinary name. Yet take the fox or racoon and their kinds, Into thy fertile soil and tend them well, And but a year or two shall pass away, Till a fair promise shall inspire thy hope.

I belonged to this latter division—not that I had any idea of a run, but, having viewed the fox take that ascent, I wished to see how they would tackle him now that the crowd was tolerably well disposed of. […] The Hassocks, where this day’s who-whoop was sounded, seems be the vulpinary Golgotha of this district of the East Sussex.

Word Forms

• more vulpinary
• most vulpinary

When Should You Use Vulpinary?

Use vulpinary when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

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