Definition of SHENANIGAN

Did You Know?

The history of shenanigan is as tricky and mischievous as its meaning. Etymologists have some theories about its origins, but no one has been able to prove them. All we can say for certain is that the earliest known use of the word in print appeared in the April 25, 1855, issue of San Francisco's Town Talk. Although the "underhanded trick" sense of the word is oldest, the most common senses in use now are "tricky or questionable practices" (as in "political shenanigans") and "high-spirited behavior" (as in "youthful shenanigans").

Examples of shenanigan in a Sentence

students engaging in youthful shenanigans on the last day of school an act of vandalism that went way beyond the usual shenanigans at summer camp

Recent Examples on the Web

In the view of many, Bernie should have been the party’s nominee except for shenanigans within that party. — WSJ, "Many Democrats Don’t Mind ‘Socialist’ Tag," 28 Mar. 2019 With WrestleMania just weeks away, the goofy Gronkowski could crash the show again and get mixed up in more shenanigans. — Dan Gelston, The Seattle Times, "Gronk unleashed: Gronkowski sets course for retirement fun," 25 Mar. 2019 Foley said that starting with the Progressive Era at the turn of the 20th century, speed was seen as a deterrent to fraud — the faster the votes were counted, the less time there was for shenanigans. — Jen Kirby, Vox, "Why it takes so long to get election night results," 6 Nov. 2018 Totally understandable, because there's plenty of other fun shenanigans happening during the episode. — Jessica Macleish, Teen Vogue, "10 Details in "Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: A Midwinter’s Tale" You Might Have Missed," 14 Dec. 2018 The fictional news anchor is back on CBS for her first season of sitcom shenanigans since 1998. — Todd Vanderwerff, Vox, "The rise, fall, and unlikely return of Murphy Brown, explained," 27 Sep. 2018 The shenanigans in North Carolina probably won’t change California’s mind. — The Editorial Board, WSJ, "Vote Fraud, in the Flesh," 22 Feb. 2019 Phoenix will deal with Jean Grey’s cosmic dark side while hopefully avoiding the shortcomings that doomed X-Men: The Last Stand (a film that no longer exists in canon thanks to some time-travel shenanigans). — Darren Orf, Popular Mechanics, "The 2019 Sci-Fi Film Guide," 3 Jan. 2019 Yes, my cat is driving me crazy with his pee-slapping shenanigans. — Andrew Moseman, Popular Mechanics, "How Much Litter Box Do You Really Get for $500?," 23 Jan. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'shenanigan.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.