cozenage

coz·en·age

noun \ˈkəz-nij, ˈkə-zə-\

Definition of COZENAGE

1

: the art or practice of cozening : fraud

2

: an act or an instance of cozening

Examples of COZENAGE

1. <through cozenage and flattery, the art dealer coaxed the unwary into selling their family treasures for a song>

First Known Use of COZENAGE

1583

Related to COZENAGE

Synonyms: artifice, cheating, deceit, craft, craftiness, crookedness, crookery, cunning, cunningness, deceitfulness, deception, deceptiveness, dishonesty, dissembling, dissimulation, double-dealing, dupery, duplicity, fakery, foxiness, fraud, guile, guilefulness, wiliness

Antonyms: artlessness, forthrightness, good faith, guilelessness, ingenuousness, sincerity

Related Words: equivocation, lying, mendacity, prevarication; chicane, chicanery, fraudulence, hanky-panky, jugglery, legerdemain, mountebankery, obliquity, skulduggery (or skullduggery), subterfuge, swindling, trickery, wile; falsehood, falsity, fib, untruth; hypocrisy, insincerity, sanctimoniousness, two-facedness; artfulness, caginess (also cageyness), deviousness, shrewdness; treacherousness, underhandedness, unscrupulousness; covertness, furtiveness, secrecy, shadiness, sneakiness, stealthiness; oiliness, shiftiness, slickness, slipperiness, slyness, smoothness

Near Antonyms: candidness, candor, directness, frankness, openness, plainness, plainspokenness; honesty, probity; dependability, reliability, reliableness, solidity, trustability, trustiness, trustworthiness; decency, goodness, incorruptibility, integrity, righteousness, truthfulness, uprightness, virtuousness

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