skulduggery
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of skulduggery
C19: altered from earlier Scot sculduddery; of obscure origin
Explanation
Skulduggery is dishonest words that are meant to trick people, like your brother's fast-talking that leaves you doing all of his chores and your own, plus giving him your allowance. He's a master of skulduggery. Skulduggery is an alteration of the Scottish word for "adultery," sculdudrie. Lies, deceit, dirty tricks? Sounds like skulduggery — or using clever words to take advantage of a situation, or person — is involved. However, skulduggery can have many other goals, from lying to potential customers about what a product can do or telling voters anything they want to hear in order to secure their votes.
Vocabulary lists containing skulduggery
Matilda
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Vocabulary Video Contest (2013) - List 1
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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
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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.
See Examples For:
Prediction markets have spurred repeated allegations of skulduggery in recent months, ranging from insider trading by politicians to suspected rigging of bets on the Ukraine war.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 23, 2026
After all my discussion about skulduggery in families and care homes, it really all depends on the family.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 31, 2025
Depreciation expenses will rise quickly, as we’ve noted in this column, and it will decrease profitability, but there is no accounting skulduggery as Burry’s short call suggests.
From Barron's ● Nov. 13, 2025
While malfeasance in politics happens in all parts of Southern California, the level of skulduggery, and sometimes outright thievery, by council members in southeast L.A.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2025
Here was somebody who had brought the art of skulduggery to the highest point of perfection, somebody, moreover, who was willing to risk life and limb in pursuit of her calling.
From "Matilda" by Roald Dahl
A former employee of the CIA, he has published a book exposing some of the agency's skulduggeries.
From Time Magazine Archive
It seemed to me that when better skulduggeries are concocted, that Don Loris and his associates ought to concoct them.
From The Pirates of Ersatz by Freas, Kelly
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.
