crooked

adjective

crook·​ed ˈkru̇-kəd How to pronounce crooked (audio)
Synonyms of crookednext
1
: not straight
a crooked road
Your tie is crooked.
2
: dishonest
a crooked election
crooked politicians
crookedly adverb
crookedness noun

Examples of crooked in a Sentence

a long, crooked line of people had formed in front of the ticket booth the common belief that gambling casinos are often crooked businesses
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Mahle had a very rough first inning, allowing four hits and issuing two walks, but escaped the frame having only allowed two runs despite the Mets having opportunities to put up a crooked number. Justice Delos Santos, Mercury News, 4 Apr. 2026 Debuting them in a brief, awkward first flight, like a firework that shoots crooked after being in storage too long. María Ospina, The Dial, 31 Mar. 2026 Tolkan also played Napoleon and his look-alike in Woody Allen’s Love and Death (1975) and was the crooked accountant known as Numbers who works for Big Boy Caprice (Al Pacino) in Warren Beatty’s Dick Tracy (1990). Mike Barnes, HollywoodReporter, 27 Mar. 2026 Until then, smuggling weed had been a grand adventure, an escape from a society that had just thrown Prager’s generation into a meat grinder in Vietnam, a repudiation of the crooked politicians and backward preachers and greedy capitalists who were running the world. Jack Crosbie, Rolling Stone, 17 Mar. 2026 See All Example Sentences for crooked

Word History

Etymology

see crook entry 2

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of crooked was in the 13th century

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Crooked.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/crooked. Accessed 4 Apr. 2026.

Kids Definition

crooked

adjective
crook·​ed ˈkru̇k-əd How to pronounce crooked (audio)
1
: having bends and curves
a crooked path
2
: not set or placed straight
the picture is crooked
3
: dishonest
a crooked card game
crookedly adverb
crookedness noun

More from Merriam-Webster on crooked

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster