The present invention relates to a cutting tool comprising a body of sintered cemented carbide or cermet, ceramic or high speed steel on which at least one of the functioning parts of the surface of the body, a thin, adherent, hard and wear resistant coating is applied. The coating comprises a laminar, multilayered structure of refractory compounds in polycrystalline, non-repetitive form, MX/NX/MX/NX where the alternating layers MX and NX are metal nitrides or carbides with the metal elements M and N selected from the group consisting of Ti, Nb, Hf, V, Ta, Mo, Zr, Cr, Al and W. The sequence of individual layer thicknesses is essentially aperiodic throughout the entire multilayered structure, and layer thicknesses are larger than 0.1 nanometer but smaller than 30 nanometer, preferably smaller than 20 nanometer. The total thickness of said multilayered coating is larger than 0.5 mu m but smaller than 20 mu m.