trickery

noun

trick·​ery ˈtri-k(ə-)rē 

: the practice of crafty underhanded ingenuity to deceive or cheat

Synonyms

• artifice
• chicane
• chicanery
• gamesmanship
• hanky-panky
• jiggery-pokery
• jugglery
• legerdemain
• skulduggery
• skullduggery
• subterfuge
• wile

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

Plus, the live-action shots and remarkable CGI trickery in bringing the Lupo creature to life are seamlessly integrated. —Jeff Spry, Space.com, 17 May 2025

After Susy died suddenly in 1896, Twain wrote an essay, quoted at length by Chernow, about the sick trickery of the Almighty. —Graeme Wood, The Atlantic, 9 May 2025

More often than not, however, the trickery is unintentional. —Megan Feringa, New York Times, 8 May 2025

Presented here, through some visual trickery, as a diminutive schlump with a hideous comb-over, Hawke doesn’t exactly disappear into the role, which strikes me as fortuitous and perhaps deliberate. —Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 27 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1796, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

trickery

noun

trick·​ery ˈtrik-(ə-)rē 

plural trickeries

: the use of tricks to deceive or cheat