as in deception
the inclination or practice of misleading others through lies or trickery
for sheer crookedness it would be hard to beat the used-car dealer who sold me that lemon
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Recent Examples of crookedness
In a dicey moment when Orgon thinks that his secret crookedness might mean his family’s utter ruin, a messenger from the King arrives.
—
Helen Shaw, New Yorker, 18 Dec. 2025
Helen Shaw, New Yorker, 18 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for crookedness
Noun
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Morgan added that this level of deception would make sense for someone trying to throw people off, like investigators or a potential lawsuit.—
Adam Sabes,
FOXNews.com,
20 Jan. 2026
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Consumer protection law isn’t meant to shield people from every assumption a brand name might invite, but from genuine deception on which a reasonable buyer would rely.—
The Editorial Board,
Chicago Tribune,
15 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Emotional confusion, even deceit, and certainly judgmental attitudes are in the air.—
Georgia Nicols,
Denver Post,
8 Jan. 2026
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Standing against them is notorious kingpin Bada Chaudhary (Sharad Kelkar), whose syndicate operates through layers of deceit through corridors in Saudi Arabia, Ethopia, Italy, Thailand and the UK.—
Jesse Whittock,
Deadline,
7 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Of course, the retort is that this would be irritating and exasperating to be continually deluged with alerts about AI deceptiveness.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
24 Aug. 2025
Noun
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The president and his allies accused Cook of mortgage fraud.—
Bryan Mena,
CNN Money,
12 Jan. 2026
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At the same briefing, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt came out swinging at Minnesota Democrats in defense of the ICE agent while touting the Medicaid fraud investigation, which dates back to the Biden administration.—
Phillip M. Bailey,
USA Today,
11 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Instead, tax enforcement has been starved, and large-scale cheating has proliferated.—
Washington Post,
Washington Post,
8 Jan. 2026
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The process seems to be amicable; there was no cheating or abuse.—
Jeanne Phillips,
Mercury News,
6 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Because Maradona, in a burst of cunning and trickery, also used his hand.—
Esteban Campanela,
CNN Money,
25 Nov. 2025
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Landing a good apartment in New York City can take some cunning.—
Matthew Sedacca,
Curbed,
5 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Crookedness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/crookedness. Accessed 22 Jan. 2026.
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