Jiggery-pokery
//ˌdʒɪɡ.ə.ɹiˈpəʊ.kə.ɹi// noun
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Trickery or misrepresentation. uncountable
"'Jiggery-pokery,' said Helena, 'you talk jiggery-pokery. Stop it, can't you?'"
- 2 verbal misrepresentation intended to take advantage of you in some way wordnet
- 3 Manipulation. uncountable
"...under the present law, the averages were made up so faithfully and fairly as to prevent any jiggery-pokery."
- 4 Sexual intercourse. euphemistic, uncountable
"...the males, like most birds, have no penis. But that doesn't stop a bit of gay jiggery-pokery."
Example
More examples"'Jiggery-pokery,' said Helena, 'you talk jiggery-pokery. Stop it, can't you?'"
Etymology
Borrowed from Scots joukery-pawkery (“trickery; deceit”) Attested in English since the nineteenth century. The earliest known use was in the Berkshire Chronicle in 1845.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.