What does "chicanery" mean?
Deception by the use of trickery, quibbling, or subterfuge.
Chicanery
/ʃɪˈkeɪn(ə)ɹi/ noun
noun ·Moderate ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Deception by the use of trickery, quibbling, or subterfuge.
- Grammar: chicanery is listed as noun.
- Nearest alternatives: trickery, art, artful dodge, artifice.
- Useful contrasts: candor, clarity, honesty.
- Usage evidence: You think this chicanery is bad?
How to use "chicanery"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "chicanery" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "chicanery" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "chicanery" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "chicanery" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "chicanery" is acting as noun in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "trickery" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "chicanery", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Deception by the use of trickery, quibbling, or subterfuge. uncountable
"They do not always find manors, got by rapine or chicanery, insensibly to melt away, as the poets will have it; or that all gold glides, like thawing snow, from the thief’s hand that grasps it."
- 2 the use of tricks to deceive someone (usually to extract money from them) wordnet
- 3 An individual act of trickery or deception. countable
"Stanford University's honor code dates to 1921, written by students to help guide them through the minefield of plagiarism, forbidden collaboration, copying and other chicaneries that have tempted undergraduates since they first arrived on college campuses."
- 4 The quality of being inclined to trickery or deceitfulness. archaic, uncountable
"He carried home with him all the knaviſh chicanery of the loweſt pettifogger, together with a wife whom he had purchſed of a drayman for twenty pounds; and he ſoon found means to obtain a Dedimus as an acting juſtice of peace."
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"You think this chicanery is bad?"
Common questions
What is a synonym for "chicanery"?
Common synonyms include: trickery, art, artful dodge, artifice, bag of tricks, baseness.
How do you use "chicanery" in a sentence?
You think this chicanery is bad?
How do you pronounce "chicanery"?
Pronounced /ʃɪˈkeɪn(ə)ɹi/.
Etymology
From French chicanerie (“trickery”), from chicaner, from Middle French chicaner, borrowed from Middle Low German schicken, from Old Saxon *skikkian, from Proto-West Germanic *skikkijan, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *skikkijaną (“to order, arrange”). Related to German schicken (“to send, ship”), Middle English skekken (“to send forth, issue”).