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 of chicanery

• deception
• treachery
• subterfuge
• skulduggery
• trickery
• deceptiveness
• gamesmanship
• jugglery
• artfulness
• secrecy
• legerdemain
• deceit

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

That said, there are plenty of reasons — none involving any kind of partisan chicanery — that explain why California elections seems to drag on and vote totals shift as ballots are steadily counted. —Mark Z. Barabak, Mercury News, 18 Feb. 2026

That said, there are plenty of reasons — none involving any kind of partisan chicanery — that explain why California elections seems to drag on and vote totals shift as ballots are steadily counted. —Los Angeles Times, 11 Feb. 2026

But even as skeptics label Strategy and the DAT model as a house of cards built on financial chicanery, others view them as early leaders in an emerging category of crypto banks. —Jeff John Roberts, Fortune, 3 Dec. 2025

The tale away from the playing field in recent years has been dizzying, one of soaring costs and debts, of quirks and chicanery unseen elsewhere. —Chris Weatherspoon, New York Times, 3 Nov. 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