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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.

RELATED WORDS

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

Nearby words

  1. chicagoan,
  2. chicalote,
  3. chican@,
  4. chicana,
  5. chicane,
  6. chicanismo,
  7. chicano,
  8. chicanos,
  9. chicanx,
  10. chiccory

Origin of chicanery

From the French word chicanerie, dating back to 1605–15. See chicane, -ery
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

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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

chicanery

n.

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.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper