chicanery
[shi-key-nuh-ree, chi-]
- 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.
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Origin of chicanery
Synonyms
See more synonyms for chicanery on Thesaurus.com1. fraud, deception, knavery. 2. evasion.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for chicanery
Contemporary Examples
Fans of today adore the cheaters of the past, precisely because of their chicanery.
Historical Examples
The placard had indicated the possibility of chicanery on the part of McGuire.
The Vagrant DukeGeorge Gibbs
In a world of chicanery and treachery the sword alone cut clean.
Dreamers of the GhettoI. Zangwill
A delicate webwork of forgery, bribery, chicanery and falsehood.
The Misplaced BattleshipHarry Harrison (AKA Henry Maxwell Dempsey)
Back in other days, a horse trade was often tinged with fraud and chicanery.
David Lannarck, MidgetGeorge S. Harney
In that case he must be prepared for her pursuit, her letters, her chicanery, which he could not bear.
The Art of DisappearingJohn Talbot Smith
chicanery
- verbal deception or trickery, esp in legal quibbling; dishonest or sharp practice
- a trick, deception, or quibble
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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
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.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper