Main Entry: chi.ca.nery

Pronunciation: \-ˈkān-rē, -ˈkā-nə-\

Function: noun

1 : deception by artful subterfuge or sophistry : TRICKERY
2 : a piece of sharp practice (as at law) : TRICK

Main Entry: chi.ca.nery

Pronunciation: \-ˈkān-rē, -ˈkā-nə-\

Function: noun

Inflected Form: plural –ner.ies

Etymology: c.1600, from Fr. chicanerie "trickery," from M.Fr. chicaner "to pettifog, quibble" (15c.), perhaps from M.L.G. schikken "to arrange, bring about," or from the name of a golflike game once played in Languedoc.

1 : deception by artful subterfuge or sophistry : TRICKERY

2 : a piece of sharp practice (as at law) : TRICK

Synonyms: artifice, cheating, chicane, deviousness, dishonesty, dodge, double-crossing, double-dealing, duplicity, feint, fourberie, fraud, furtiveness, gambit, hanky-panky, intrigue, machination, maneuver, plot, ploy, ruse, sharp practice, skullduggery, sophistry, stratagem, subterfuge, surreptitiousness, underhandedness, wiles

Usage: The peddler often used chicanery to convince people that his goods were worth buying.
Quotable quote: Abuse of words has been the great instrument of sophistry and chicanery, of party, faction, and division of society. (John Adams)