crooked
Americanadjective
-
not straight; bending; curved.
a crooked path.
-
The picture on the wall seems to be crooked.
-
a man with a crooked back.
- Synonyms:
- misshapen
-
not straightforward; dishonest.
- Synonyms:
- fraudulent, deceitful, knavish, unscrupulous
-
bent and often raised or moved to one side, as a finger or neck.
-
(of a coin) polygonal.
a crooked sixpence.
adjective
-
bent, angled or winding
-
set at an angle; not straight
-
deformed or contorted
-
informal dishonest or illegal
-
informal hostile or averse to
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of crooked
First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English croked; see crook 1, -ed 2
Explanation
Something crooked is not straight, like a trail through the woods, or your cousin's unfortunate set of teeth. Crook is a Middle English verb meaning "bend," which comes from the Norse for hook. So crooked means "bent out of shape or curving around sharply." A picture hanging diagonally on the wall is crooked, and so is a hunchback's spine. We also use crooked metaphorically to talk about being bent out of moral shape, so to speak. A crooked politician is dishonest and takes bribes, and crooked businessmen steal from unsuspecting clients.
Vocabulary lists containing crooked
Words from Shakespearean Insults
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"The Jacket"
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Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I have a dream" speech
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Soon, Beatnix got her yoga certification and a couple of her goth friends, Sal Santoro and Popi Mavros, offered the backroom of their Burbank-based occult store, the Crooked Path.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 27, 2026
It’s a thesis encapsulated by Crooked Con’s slogan, streaked across a banner in the central foyer, reading “Freedom & Content for All.”
From Slate • Nov. 19, 2025
But something about seeing its listeners, the choir to which Crooked preached, unsettled me.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 19, 2025
The Belize Institute of Archaeology provided an archaeological permit, granting permission to excavate in the Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary.
From Science Daily • Nov. 22, 2024
Gebu walked down the Street of the Crooked Dog toward the river, turned on a broad street leading southward, passed the fish docks and ferry landing, with Ranofer never losing sight of him a moment.
From "The Golden Goblet" by Eloise Jarvis McGraw
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
