as in skullduggery
the use of clever underhanded actions to achieve an end
had to resort to a certain amount of hanky-panky to sneak away from the house without his dog seeing him
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Recent Examples of hanky-panky
But there was no hanky-panky, and in fact the two couples had dinner together every week for two years after Dirty Dancing wrapped.
—
Bethy Squires, Vulture, 19 Sep. 2024
On my ride with Boaz and Javadi, a Waymo operator suddenly joined us on the audio system, not to inform us that hanky-panky is prohibited, but to say that two passengers did not have their seat belts fastened.
—Steve Lopez, Los Angeles Times, 26 July 2024
Any outlier hanky-panky effort by Republicans would be enjoined by the courts based upon solid precedent.
—Jerry Goldfeder, New York Daily News, 24 July 2024
No hanky-panky, no name calling, no twisting of truths, no bull.
—Patrick Wallis, Baltimore Sun, 24 May 2024
Our inescapable conclusion is that the target of this pitch is being snowed by an acquaintance hoping to climb out of the friend zone for a bout of hanky-panky before moving on.
—Tom Zoellner, SPIN, 21 Feb. 2024
Bethy Squires, Vulture, 19 Sep. 2024
On my ride with Boaz and Javadi, a Waymo operator suddenly joined us on the audio system, not to inform us that hanky-panky is prohibited, but to say that two passengers did not have their seat belts fastened.
—Steve Lopez, Los Angeles Times, 26 July 2024
Any outlier hanky-panky effort by Republicans would be enjoined by the courts based upon solid precedent.
—Jerry Goldfeder, New York Daily News, 24 July 2024
No hanky-panky, no name calling, no twisting of truths, no bull.
—Patrick Wallis, Baltimore Sun, 24 May 2024
Our inescapable conclusion is that the target of this pitch is being snowed by an acquaintance hoping to climb out of the friend zone for a bout of hanky-panky before moving on.
—Tom Zoellner, SPIN, 21 Feb. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hanky-panky
Noun
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The paper adds to a small but growing body of evidence that today’s most advanced AI models are becoming capable of strategic deception.Billy Perrigo, TIME, 18 Dec. 2024
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This is a game of deception after all, and everyone is in on it.Alejandra Gularte, Vulture, 18 Dec. 2024
Noun
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In the past, Yellowstone characters have pulled off relatively elaborate acts of subterfuge and scheming with multilayered plans that need lots of arguing and surprise twists and time — like, several episodes’ worth of time.Kathryn VanArendonk, Vulture, 16 Dec. 2024
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This content, much of it clearly generated by AI rather than intended to deceive—a medium of crude self-expression, not sophisticated subterfuge—may have been the technology’s biggest impact on the 2024 presidential election.Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 10 Dec. 2024
Noun
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There are many reasons beyond cheating and skulduggery that someone might root or modify their Android device.Kevin Purdy, Ars Technica, 30 July 2024
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And so the tale of how the Giants established themselves at the Polo Grounds is told, accurately enough, as a piece of complicated capitalist skulduggery in which the team’s desperate owner bought a controlling interest in the Baltimore Orioles and then dragged its stars north.Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 25 Mar. 2024
Noun
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The eternal fight for liberty — slaves into gladiators, gladiators into free men — calls for courage and purpose beyond Lucius’s nightmarish expectations, uncovering the treachery and chicanery of Roman politics.Armond White, National Review, 6 Dec. 2024
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After eight episodes of legal and emotional chicanery, a jury finds Rusty Sabich not guilty of murdering his lover, Carolyn Polhemus.Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 25 July 2024
Noun
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The eternal fight for liberty — slaves into gladiators, gladiators into free men — calls for courage and purpose beyond Lucius’s nightmarish expectations, uncovering the treachery and chicanery of Roman politics.Armond White, National Review, 6 Dec. 2024
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Hosted by Alan Cumming, the game of treachery and deceit returns to Peacock on Thursday, January 9th.Anne Easton, Forbes, 31 Oct. 2024
Noun
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The company summoned all its acoustical trickery to target the sound so that music and podcasts almost seem to appear in your head for intimate yet airy performance.Ryan Waniata, WIRED, 9 Dec. 2024
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But sometimes, all that’s required to open up a room is a little visual trickery: A coat of paint in the right shade can instantly make even the most cramped kitchen feel airy and bright.Betsy Cribb Watson, Southern Living, 6 Dec. 2024
Noun
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The political machinations on the right and left appear little more than gamesmanship.Joseph Ataman, CNN, 5 Dec. 2024
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Some might suggest that peddling ideas of heroic viticulture is akin to marketing gamesmanship, that the consumer is forced to foot the bill for wines produced too far from the tenets of entrepreneurship and economies of scale.Paul Caputo, Forbes, 30 Nov. 2024
Noun
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Report’s release marks end to drama on Capitol Hill Monday’s release of the report marks the end of a weeks-long drama surrounding whether the panel, which typically conducts its work in secrecy would release its findings.Emily Brooks, The Hill, 23 Dec. 2024
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In a mission veiled in secrecy, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off Monday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, sending a military Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite to a medium orbit about 12,000 miles above Earth, Space News reports.Ars Technica, Ars Technica, 20 Dec. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Hanky-panky.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hanky-panky. Accessed 30 Dec. 2024.
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