variants
or skullduggery
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
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Recent Examples of skulduggery
There are many reasons beyond cheating and skulduggery that someone might root or modify their Android device.
—
Kevin Purdy, Ars Technica, 30 July 2024
And so the tale of how the Giants established themselves at the Polo Grounds is told, accurately enough, as a piece of complicated capitalist skulduggery in which the team’s desperate owner bought a controlling interest in the Baltimore Orioles and then dragged its stars north.
—Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 25 Mar. 2024
Schiff’s skulduggery was unfortunate but totally rational under the current system.
—David Daley, The Mercury News, 14 Mar. 2024
This one went smoothly — no claims of rampant rigging, no significant taint of skulduggery — due in large part to the defeat of deepfakes, democracy’s newest enemy.
—Michael Rogers, Twin Cities, 14 Jan. 2024
See All Example Sentences for skulduggery
Kevin Purdy, Ars Technica, 30 July 2024
And so the tale of how the Giants established themselves at the Polo Grounds is told, accurately enough, as a piece of complicated capitalist skulduggery in which the team’s desperate owner bought a controlling interest in the Baltimore Orioles and then dragged its stars north.
—Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 25 Mar. 2024
Schiff’s skulduggery was unfortunate but totally rational under the current system.
—David Daley, The Mercury News, 14 Mar. 2024
This one went smoothly — no claims of rampant rigging, no significant taint of skulduggery — due in large part to the defeat of deepfakes, democracy’s newest enemy.
—Michael Rogers, Twin Cities, 14 Jan. 2024
See All Example Sentences for skulduggery
Recent Examples of Synonyms for skulduggery
Noun
-
Last summer, an exponentially growing audience of fans watched her fall head-over-heels for Brit Aaron Evans, only to be left heartbroken over his deception and sobbing to an entirely too appropriate Sabrina Carpenter song chosen by the show's editors.—
KiMi Robinson,
USA Today,
19 July 2025
-
Finding The Right Balance The cost of workplace deception is more than just a nasty surprise come employee feedback day.—
Dmitry Malin,
Forbes.com,
15 July 2025
Noun
-
One is inclined to ask how much chicanery, deceit, deception and outright lying one must absorb before ending one’s allegiance to that party.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
2 June 2025
-
Despite the chicanery, this is a solid deal for a phone that isn’t wildly different from the Pixel 9.—
Janhoi McGregor,
Forbes.com,
7 June 2025
Noun
-
An especially Jewish theme in the seventeenth century was not only the necessity but the dignity of subterfuge; to have lived in the shadows of another people’s empire had a nobility of its own, captured in this exquisite and ambivalent image.—
Adam Gopnik,
New Yorker,
19 July 2025
-
People generally might not realize the subterfuge at play.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
8 July 2025
Noun
-
In the Carlson interview, Kennedy dismissed the many studies and scientific consensus that shots don’t cause autism as nothing more than statistical trickery.—
Patricia Callahan,
CNN Money,
18 July 2025
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Indeed, in the 1950s, a magician from New York named John Mulholland was secretly contracted with the agency to write a manual for Cold War spies on trickery and deception.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
6 July 2025
Noun
-
With bathroom breaks, the most infamous incident of a player being accused of gamesmanship was Murray and Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece clashing at the 2021 U.S. Open.—
Charlie Eccleshare,
New York Times,
8 July 2025
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Until then, both sides have injected a degree of gamesmanship into the final round of talks, with Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) pledging to hold a vote this week in spite of the Democratic opposition.—
David Sivak,
The Washington Examiner,
6 May 2025
Noun
-
Opening pages show Toews’ characteristic wit and guile squaring off against extraordinary pain.—
Literary Hub
July 1,
Literary Hub,
1 July 2025
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Getting to the knockout phase will take guile as much as craft, something the Dutch boast in abundance.—
Megan Feringa,
New York Times,
28 June 2025
Noun
-
Between April 1 and 7, the fair gathered 60 brands at the Palexpo exhibition center that broke new records, showcased world premieres and offered an ever-growing array of technical and artistic legerdemain in their latest high-end timepieces.—
Lily Templeton,
Footwear News,
17 Apr. 2025
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Congressional legerdemain can’t wave away that reality.—
Howard Gleckman,
Forbes,
4 Dec. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Skulduggery.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/skulduggery. Accessed 1 Aug. 2025.
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