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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.

“Being at family holiday dinners is always funny business,” says travel blogger Natalija Ugrina.

From The Wall Street Journal

“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 Literature

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

From Slate

Enough with the funny business.

From Slate

All in all, it’s a nice place to visit, energetic and good-natured, with lots of funny business around the edges, even as it makes one glad to have put one’s own college days in the past.

From Los Angeles Times

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.