skullduggery
Americannoun
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dishonorable proceedings; mean dishonesty or trickery.
They dealt in bribery, graft, and other such skullduggery.
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an instance of dishonest or deceitful behavior; trick.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of skullduggery
An Americanism dating back to 1865–70; variant of sculduddery ( def. ), originally Scots: “fornication, obscenity,” of unknown origin
Vocabulary lists containing skullduggery
2014 Vocabulary Video Contest (M-Z)
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Vocab Video Contest (2016) - List 5
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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.
What the Bullmers and company should have known is not to bring a crusading journalist aboard a boat where so much skullduggery is on the itinerary, and so many spoilers in the cargo hold.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2025
To challenge that French postcolonial imperium built by cunning, corruption and covert skullduggery, Moscow needed an operative who could match Jacques Foccart’s legendary mastery of the dirty business of empire, measure for measure.
From Salon ● Oct. 22, 2023
"That's a pretty hefty prize for low-tech skullduggery," Tomasco said.
From Reuters ● May 10, 2023
And that's just the start, as a serious accident starts the crew wondering if some skullduggery might be afoot.
From BBC ● Dec. 25, 2022
I tell you the hull world's full of skullduggery.
From Flowing Gold by Beach, Rex Ellingwood
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.
