hanky-panky

or han·key-pan·key

[ hang-kee-pang-kee ]
See synonyms for hanky-panky on Thesaurus.com
nounInformal.
  1. unethical behavior; deceit: When the bank teller bought an expensive car and house, they suspected there might be some hanky-panky going on.

  2. illicit sexual relations.

Origin of hanky-panky

1
1835–45; rhyming compound; compare initial h, p of higgledy-piggledy, hocus-pocus, hodgepodge, etc.
  • Also han·ky pank .

Words Nearby hanky-panky

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use hanky-panky in a sentence

  • These scientists have worked miracles before which those of the ancient priests and magicians are mere tricks of hanky-panky.

    God and my Neighbour | Robert Blatchford
  • If you play any hanky-panky tricks—look here, Da Souza, I'll kill you, sure!

    A Millionaire of Yesterday | E. Phillips Oppenheim
  • Some hanky-panky with regimental money; every one knows how India plays the devil with a man's sense of right and wrong.

    Alone | Norman Douglas
  • I'll put up with no hanky-panky work from Mrs. Cummers Portheris, my dear—and well she knows it!'

    An American Girl in London | Sara Jeannette Duncan
  • He had no idea I wasn't interested in his other hanky-panky, but could tell I had had a low blow.

    The Misplaced Battleship | Harry Harrison (AKA Henry Maxwell Dempsey)

British Dictionary definitions for hanky-panky

hanky-panky

/ (ˈhæŋkɪˈpæŋkɪ) /


nouninformal
  1. dubious or suspicious behaviour

  2. foolish behaviour or talk

  1. illicit sexual relations

Origin of hanky-panky

1
C19: variant of hocus-pocus

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012