chicanery

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun the use of tricks to deceive someone (usually to extract money from them)

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 (“to order, arrange”). Related to German schicken (“to send, ship”), Middle English skekken (“to send forth, issue”).

In classic literature

Synonyms

trickery, chicane, guile, wile, shenanigan

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