chicanery

noun

chi·​ca·​nery shi-ˈkā-nə-rē 

-ˈkān-,

chi-

plural chicaneries

1

: deception by artful subterfuge or sophistry : trickery

He wasn't above using chicanery to win votes.

2

: a piece of sharp practice (as at law) : trick

resorted to political chicaneries

financial chicaneries

Did you know?

Chicanery Has Roots in French

We have hardly any words that do so fully expresse the French clinquant, naiveté … chicaneries. So lamented English writer John Evelyn in a letter to Sir Peter Wyche in 1665. Evelyn and Wyche were members of a group called the Royal Society, which had formed a committee emulating the French Academy for the purpose of "improving the English language." We can surmise that, in Evelyn's estimation, the addition of chicanery to English from French was an improvement. What he apparently didn't realize was that English speakers had adopted the word from the French chicanerie before he wished for it; the term appears in English manuscripts dating from 1609. Similarly, clinquant ("glittering with gold or tinsel") dates from 1591. Naïveté, on the other hand, waited until 1673 to appear.

Synonyms

• artifice
• chicane
• gamesmanship
• hanky-panky
• jiggery-pokery
• jugglery
• legerdemain
• skulduggery
• skullduggery
• subterfuge
• trickery
• wile

Examples of chicanery in a Sentence

He wasn't above using chicanery to win votes.

that candidate only won the election through chicanery

Recent Examples on the Web

Jane was a devout Protestant at a time of religious upheaval, the ultimate innocent victim of the chicanery of the Tudor court in the chaotic aftermath of Henry VIII’s reign. —Pan Pylas, Chicago Tribune, 9 Mar. 2025

The big picture: Opponents argue that moves like these give a green light for corporations to engage in all kinds of chicanery. —Emily Peck, Axios, 5 Mar. 2025

In the book’s second half, especially, events pile up that have the surface appearance of big drama — a wildfire, a norovirus outbreak, some chicanery Sara unearths on the part of the prison contractor. —Sam Worley, Vulture, 4 Mar. 2025

Her example teaches us how such practices can protect innocent people while preventing political chicanery from undermining faith in the American system of governance. —Rebecca Brenner Graham / Made By History, TIME, 4 Mar. 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French chicanerie "quibbling on minor points of law brought up to complicate a judicial case," going back to Middle French chiquanerie, from chicaner "to dispute by means of quibbles," earlier "to sue, prosecute" + -erie -ery — more at chicane entry 1

Note: Randle Cotgrave's French-English dictionary (1611) defines chicanerie as "wrangling, pettifogging; litigious, or craftie pleading; the perplexing of a cause with trickes; or the pestering thereof with (subtile, but) impertinent words."

First Known Use

1589, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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Kids Definition

chicanery

noun

chi·​ca·​nery shik-ˈān-(ə-)rē 

plural chicaneries

: clever trickery