1
as in mischief
playful, reckless behavior that is not intended to cause serious harm
students engaging in youthful shenanigans on the last day of school
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in hijinks
wildly playful or mischievous behavior
an act of vandalism that went way beyond the usual shenanigans at summer camp
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of shenanigans
In recent decades the Mexican celebration of Día de los Muertos has been widely embraced across the Bay Area, providing a comforting counterpoint to the thrills, chills and shenanigans of Halloween.
—
Andrew Gilbert, Mercury News, 22 Oct. 2025
Read on to learn how this treat inspired such shenanigans.
—Libby Monteith Minor, Southern Living, 19 Oct. 2025
The folks at the unfortunate mercy of such shenanigans, however, might just be Dart and Broncos quarterback Bo Nix.
—Luca Evans, Denver Post, 17 Oct. 2025
More pastel shenanigans are on the way.
—Christian Blauvelt, IndieWire, 16 Oct. 2025
Kevin sneaks his way into a room at the Plaza Hotel and gets up to his usual shenanigans in the building, which was owned in real life by Donald at the time, with Ivana serving as the property's president.
—Lauren Huff, Entertainment Weekly, 15 Oct. 2025
Still, the sleek production design, symphonic score and performances from a killer ensemble act as a life preserver, making the shenanigans at sea a little less choppy.
—Courtney Howard, Variety, 9 Oct. 2025
No Way Home on Starz, thanks to the licensing shenanigans between Sony and Marvel.
—Chris McMullen, Space.com, 8 Oct. 2025
Boatmance shenanigans will have to wait, though; right now, drama is concentrated exclusively on the deck team.
—Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 7 Oct. 2025
Andrew Gilbert, Mercury News, 22 Oct. 2025
Read on to learn how this treat inspired such shenanigans.
—Libby Monteith Minor, Southern Living, 19 Oct. 2025
The folks at the unfortunate mercy of such shenanigans, however, might just be Dart and Broncos quarterback Bo Nix.
—Luca Evans, Denver Post, 17 Oct. 2025
More pastel shenanigans are on the way.
—Christian Blauvelt, IndieWire, 16 Oct. 2025
Kevin sneaks his way into a room at the Plaza Hotel and gets up to his usual shenanigans in the building, which was owned in real life by Donald at the time, with Ivana serving as the property's president.
—Lauren Huff, Entertainment Weekly, 15 Oct. 2025
Still, the sleek production design, symphonic score and performances from a killer ensemble act as a life preserver, making the shenanigans at sea a little less choppy.
—Courtney Howard, Variety, 9 Oct. 2025
No Way Home on Starz, thanks to the licensing shenanigans between Sony and Marvel.
—Chris McMullen, Space.com, 8 Oct. 2025
Boatmance shenanigans will have to wait, though; right now, drama is concentrated exclusively on the deck team.
—Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 7 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shenanigans
Noun
-
The electric version starts the same, but that plaintive wail sounds more like a call to mischief.—
Melissa Ruggieri,
USA Today,
24 Oct. 2025
-
When a mysterious prankster befalls the town of Middlesburg, 13-year-old Frances McCausland (Erin Chambers) gets blamed for the mischief.—
Catherine Santino,
PEOPLE,
23 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Last year, Strictly was hit with scandal as two professional dancers exited following allegations of misconduct.—
Max Goldbart,
Deadline,
23 Oct. 2025
-
Russ Anderson also failed to challenge the bank’s incentive compensation program, failed to institute effective controls and repeatedly downplayed sales practices misconduct, Hsu previously said.—
Desiree Mathurin,
Charlotte Observer,
23 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Jones eventually got into his joking bag, and Bleek took that opportunity to seriously set the record straight one last time.—
Armon Sadler,
VIBE.com,
15 Oct. 2025
-
And their joking comments about their relationship never help the matter.—
Lizzie Lanuza,
StyleCaster,
15 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
This Survivor 49 challenge tomfoolery actually began before the season even started filming.—
Dalton Ross,
Entertainment Weekly,
8 Oct. 2025
-
Rite of passage or midnight tomfoolery?—
Jake Allen,
IndyStar,
10 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Their relationship, tentative, intimate, and defiant, lingers long after the satirical skewering of male buffoonery has faded.—
Leila Latif,
IndieWire,
5 Sep. 2025
-
He’s been tinkering with this messaging on and off since damn near the start of the century, when his criticism of the genre shifted from the power-holding executives (both white and Black) of the music industry who were profiting off buffoonery, a la Bamboozled, to rap music itself.—
Alphonse Pierre,
Pitchfork,
15 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
Finally, after plenty of clowning, Taylor Swift has revealed that her 12th album is on the way, titled The Life of a Showgirl.—
Tom Smyth,
Vulture,
13 Aug. 2025
-
This is a work in which the slapstick clowning and the tricky verbal non sequiturs should be merely the surface for roiling undercurrents of anguish, futility, despair and fear.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
3 Sep. 2019
Cite this Entry
“Shenanigans.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shenanigans. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.
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