skulduggery

noun

ˌskəl-ˈdə-g(ə-)rē How to pronounce skulduggery (audio)
variants or skullduggery
Definition of skulduggerynext
as in deception
the use of clever underhanded actions to achieve an end the company's apparently healthy bottom line was merely an illusion, the result of years of accounting skulduggery

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of skulduggery The governor’s office offered no explanation for its skullduggery. — Kevin Rennie, Hartford Courant, 7 Mar. 2026 Soprano Nicole Car’s initially elegant Elizabeth accumulates both physical and vocal intensity as the opera exposes more and more skulduggery around her. — Scott Cantrell, Dallas Morning News, 28 Feb. 2026 But this week social media posts began to surface alleging the firm was engaged in skullduggery. — Jeff John Roberts, Fortune, 26 Feb. 2026 The outcome of the family’s skulduggery, revealed over the end credits, should be a lip-smacking wicked delight. — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 14 Feb. 2026 See All Example Sentences for skulduggery
Recent Examples of Synonyms for skulduggery
  1. deception
  2. treachery
  3. chicanery
  4. subterfuge
  5. trickery
  6. deceptiveness
  7. gamesmanship
  8. secrecy
Noun
  • Her backstory is littered with half-truths and deceptions, including a lie that her mentally disabled younger sister was murdered after being kidnapped.
    — Cheyenne Roundtree, Rolling Stone, 11 Aug. 2026
  • In modern times, as threats have evolved, deception with moving the president has been an integral part of the Secret Service protective methodologies.
    — Donald J. Mihalek, ABC News, 11 Aug. 2026
Definition of deception
Noun
  • For his treachery in conspiring with Gwayne, Daemon claims Corlys as his own prisoner.
    — Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 10 Aug. 2026
  • Guides spoke of the monthlong siege that ended only because of the treachery of a local noble who turned on the sultan and allowed British troops to scale the walls.
    — Ishaan Tharoor, New Yorker, 2 July 2026
Definition of treachery
Noun
  • But both parties increasingly justify the chicanery, because the stakes of winning elections and keeping power are simply too high.
    — S.E. Cupp, New York Daily News, 8 July 2026
  • There’s a tremendous amount of financial chicanery that goes on in 2026.
    — Chris Murphy, Vanity Fair, 11 June 2026
Definition of chicanery
Noun
  • What subterfuge has the author devised within a sentence, and what chills of humor or irony will run across its surface as the subterfuge is discovered?
    — Sabrina Jaszi, The Dial, 4 Aug. 2026
  • Her subterfuge eventually drives Frank to unknowingly hire Ariane’s own father to learn her identity.
    — Air Mail, Air Mail, 18 July 2026
Definition of subterfuge
Noun
  • Football is all about engaño (trickery) — looking one way and passing the other, feinting to go left and swiftly moving right, manipulating the opposition and tricking them to open up those little spaces.
    — Xavi, New York Times, 19 July 2026
  • Marc Cucurella and Pedro Porro have stretched defenses from the flanks, while Lamine Yamal has confused them with his trickery.
    — Jibin Joseph, PC Magazine, 18 July 2026
Definition of trickery
Noun
  • 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
  • Beyond the deceptiveness of the narrow material view, spiritual light and hope are always present to be found and felt.
    — Sue Brightman, Christian Science Monitor, 3 Jan. 2025
Definition of deceptiveness
Noun
  • In some ways, that depends on whether the agent eventually learns guile, and social gamesmanship, or not.
    — John Werner, Forbes.com, 21 July 2026
  • Some of that gamesmanship occurred when former Orange County Superior Court Judge Israel Claustro tried to profit from the SIBTF program by forming a company to write and submit medical reports for applicants.
    — Tony Saavedra, Oc Register, 16 July 2026
Definition of gamesmanship
Noun
  • Long history The practice of sealing original birth certificates in California dates back in the 1930s, and the state is not alone in its secrecy around them.
    — Stephen Hobbs, Sacbee.com, 7 Aug. 2026
  • Developed in complete secrecy by Lockheed’s Skunk Works for the CIA, the A-12 OXCART first flew in the early 1960s and became one of the fastest aircraft ever built, cruising at Mach 3+ above 90,000 feet.
    — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of secrecy

Browse Nearby Words

skoshes
skulduggery
skulk
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Cite this Entry

“Skulduggery.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/skulduggery. Accessed 12 Aug. 2026.

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