chicanery

[shi-key-nuh-ree, chi-]

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noun, plural chi·can·er·ies.

trickery or deception by quibbling or sophistry: He resorted to the worst flattery and chicanery to win the job.
a quibble or subterfuge used to trick, deceive, or evade.

Origin of chicanery

From the French word chicanerie, dating back to 1605–15. See chicane, -ery

Synonyms for chicanery

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1. fraud, deception, knavery. 2. evasion.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for chicanery

stratagem, machination, dishonesty, duplicity, dodge, furtiveness, fraud, maneuver, ploy, plot, feint, cheating, sophistry, subterfuge, artifice, double-dealing, ruse, gambit, intrigue, skullduggery

Examples from the Web for chicanery

Contemporary Examples of chicanery

Fans of today adore the cheaters of the past, precisely because of their chicanery.
Alex Rodriguez Suspension Is a Sad Moment for Baseball
Michael Brendan Dougherty
August 5, 2013

Historical Examples of chicanery

The placard had indicated the possibility of chicanery on the part of McGuire.
The Vagrant Duke
George Gibbs
In a world of chicanery and treachery the sword alone cut clean.
Dreamers of the Ghetto
I. Zangwill
A delicate webwork of forgery, bribery, chicanery and falsehood.
The Misplaced Battleship
Harry Harrison (AKA Henry Maxwell Dempsey)
Back in other days, a horse trade was often tinged with fraud and chicanery.
David Lannarck, Midget
George S. Harney
In that case he must be prepared for her pursuit, her letters, her chicanery, which he could not bear.
The Art of Disappearing
John Talbot Smith

British Dictionary definitions for chicanery

chicanery

noun plural -eries

verbal deception or trickery, esp in legal quibbling; dishonest or sharp practice
a trick, deception, or quibble

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

Word Origin and History for chicanery

c.1600, "legal quibbling, sophistry," from French chicanerie "trickery," from Middle French chicaner "to pettifog, quibble" (15c.), of unknown origin, perhaps from Middle Low German schikken "to arrange, bring about," or from the name of a golf-like game once played in Languedoc.