trickery

noun

trick·​ery ˈtri-k(ə-)rē How to pronounce trickery (audio)
: the practice of crafty underhanded ingenuity to deceive or cheat
Choose the Right Synonym for trickery

deception, fraud, double-dealing, subterfuge, trickery mean the acts or practices of one who deliberately deceives.

deception may or may not imply blameworthiness, since it may suggest cheating or merely tactical resource.

magicians are masters of deception

fraud always implies guilt and often criminality in act or practice.

indicted for fraud

double-dealing suggests treachery or at least action contrary to a professed attitude.

a go-between suspected of double-dealing

subterfuge suggests the adoption of a stratagem or the telling of a lie in order to escape guilt or to gain an end.

obtained the papers by subterfuge

trickery implies ingenious acts intended to dupe or cheat.

resorted to trickery to gain their ends

Examples of trickery in a Sentence

He resorted to trickery to get what he wanted. Delia resorted to trickery—even loading up the fishing equipment—to induce her dog into the car for his vet appointment.
Recent Examples on the Web Across all versions, changelings could easily pass off as their human counterparts — their true likeness only exposed by way of trickery or beatings. Jessica Wang, EW.com, 7 Sep. 2023 Around the time the Packers beat the Bears, the Cardinals made their move against the Seahawks with some trickery. David Brandt, USA TODAY, 7 Jan. 2024 The trickery is done to gain views and make sure that people keep coming back to use generative AI. Lance Eliot, Forbes, 11 Feb. 2024 The performance takes audience members (especially those who are chosen to appear onstage) through bits of mental trickery, interwoven with DePonto’s monologues on his own personal stories. Washington Post, 1 Feb. 2024 The trailer shows Indy dispatching foes with whips, fists, and trickery but also straight-up plugging them with a revolver and two-handed machine gun. Kevin Purdy, Ars Technica, 18 Jan. 2024 Young Casanova was able to promote himself into the upper echelons of Venetian society through dissembling, trickery, and bluff. Gaile Robinson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 31 Jan. 2024 Each scene's framing feels like it was carefully assembled from comic book clippings, with barely disguised CGI trickery to keep everything hanging together. Lee Hutchinson, Ars Technica, 29 Jan. 2024 And throughout this year, my answer has been Asi Wind, a smooth-talking Israeli American magician who has been holed up in a Greenwich Village church gymnasium, astonishing audiences with close-up card trickery and mind-blowing mind reading. New York Times, 9 Dec. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'trickery.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1796, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of trickery was in 1796

Dictionary Entries Near trickery

Cite this Entry

“Trickery.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/trickery. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

trickery

noun
trick·​ery ˈtrik-(ə-)rē How to pronounce trickery (audio)
plural trickeries
: the use of tricks to deceive or cheat

More from Merriam-Webster on trickery

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