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definitions

knavery

[ney-vuh-ree]
See more synonyms for knavery on Thesaurus.com
noun, plural knav·er·ies.
  1. action or practice characteristic of a knave.
  2. unprincipled, untrustworthy, or dishonest dealing; trickery.
  3. a knavish act or practice.

Origin of knavery

First recorded in 1520–30; knave + -ery
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for knavery

scam, hoax, deceit, racket, deception, extortion, rip-off, harm, pain, catastrophe, calamity, ill, wrong, corruption, suffering, misery, hatred, crime, sin, sell

Examples from the Web for knavery

Historical Examples of knavery

  • They know that their knavery is no secret but they don't mind.

    Albert Durer

    T. Sturge Moore

  • To “resist not evil” seemed to him then only a rather feeble sort of knavery.

    Dr. Sevier

    George W. Cable

  • From this retreat we could see the proof of knavery in the villages below.

    John Splendid

    Neil Munro

  • He was very cunning to be sure; but the "afflicted" girls could see through his knavery.

    Dulcibel

    Henry Peterson

  • Folly and knavery were, for a time, completely in the ascendant.

British Dictionary definitions for knavery

knavery

noun plural -eries
  1. a deceitful or dishonest act
  2. dishonest conduct; trickery
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 knavery
n.

1520s, from knave + -ery.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper