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Showing results for funny business. Search instead for fine-business.
Synonyms

funny business

American  

noun

Informal.
  1. improper or unethical conduct, as deception or trickery.

    He won't stand for any funny business here.


funny business Idioms  
  1. Deceit, treachery, unethical conduct. For example, We suspect their outfit has been up to some funny business. [Colloquial; c. 1880]


Etymology

Origin of funny business

An Americanism dating back to 1880–85


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.

See Examples For:

Hmm, any other funny business out there worth looking into …?

From Slate ● Sep. 20, 2025

He’s asked them all to visit the Dawn Project in Santa Barbara to evaluate his team’s methods, and to bring their engineers to see if there’s any funny business going on.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2023

But let's not have any more funny business.

From Salon ● Jun. 14, 2023

“As long as nobody does any funny business — you’ve got to watch it till the very end.”

From New York Times ● Apr. 27, 2023

“A funny business, that. The latch on the cage wasn’t damaged at all. It’d simply been opened, and I know I closed it up properly.”

From "The Unseen Guest" by Maryrose Wood

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