hanky-panky
Americannoun
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unethical behavior; deceit.
When the bank teller bought an expensive car and house, they suspected there might be some hanky-panky going on.
-
illicit sexual relations.
noun
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dubious or suspicious behaviour
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foolish behaviour or talk
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illicit sexual relations
Etymology
Origin of hanky-panky
1835–45; rhyming compound; compare initial h, p of higgledy-piggledy, hocus-pocus, hodgepodge ( def. ), etc.
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.
Technically, she was indicted for bank fraud relating to alleged hanky-panky on a mortgage application.
From Slate ● Oct. 11, 2025
She seethed over snubbed paella, screeched about George’s hanky-panky in the parental bed and laid out the spread for screen husband Frank’s idiosyncratic holiday, Festivus.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 2, 2022
Steffen doesn’t look wholly convincing as he knocks it away, but the whistle goes for some hanky-panky in the six-yard box.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 20, 2021
One CME veteran told Cohan, “There is definite hanky-panky going on, to the world’s financial markets’ detriment.
From Salon ● Oct. 22, 2019
Although she was petite, I quickly discovered that my shorthand teacher was definitely not one to tolerate any hanky-panky.
From "Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High" by Melba Pattillo Beals
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.
