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
Relevance
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
This year the skulduggery began early and has been raging for week.
—
Tim Spiers, New York Times, 12 Apr. 2025
Obviously, such a system is rife with uncertainty, and the history of the process is full of skulduggery, both on the club and player side.
—Tony Blengino, Forbes, 13 Jan. 2025
Climax became the first ever vegan cheesemaker to win a prestigious Good Food award—though dairy complaints caused the prize to be rescinded at the last minute, with shades of the protectionist, legal skulduggery faced by non-dairy milk products.
—Andrew Rosenblum, Popular Science, 26 Dec. 2024
There are many reasons beyond cheating and skulduggery that someone might root or modify their Android device.
—Kevin Purdy, Ars Technica, 30 July 2024
See All Example Sentences for skulduggery
Tim Spiers, New York Times, 12 Apr. 2025
Obviously, such a system is rife with uncertainty, and the history of the process is full of skulduggery, both on the club and player side.
—Tony Blengino, Forbes, 13 Jan. 2025
Climax became the first ever vegan cheesemaker to win a prestigious Good Food award—though dairy complaints caused the prize to be rescinded at the last minute, with shades of the protectionist, legal skulduggery faced by non-dairy milk products.
—Andrew Rosenblum, Popular Science, 26 Dec. 2024
There are many reasons beyond cheating and skulduggery that someone might root or modify their Android device.
—Kevin Purdy, Ars Technica, 30 July 2024
See All Example Sentences for skulduggery
Recent Examples of Synonyms for skulduggery
Noun
-
Interestingly, men, not women, were more open to benevolent deception.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
1 Sep. 2025
-
The movie, with Baranov as its scoundrel tour guide, works its way through some of 21st century Russia’s greatest hits of deception.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
31 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
Those concerns were laid bare in the discovery process for the defamation case that Dominion Voting Systems took against Fox over false suggestions of fraud and other chicanery aired by guests on the network.—
Niall Stanage,
The Hill,
19 July 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
-
Maybe Payton’s running the best preseason subterfuge campaign ever to make Estime look bad on film.—
Sean Keeler,
Denver Post,
17 Aug. 2025
-
On the other side of this triangle, Conrad has his own Belly-management system, which relies heavily on subterfuge and mostly comes down to attempts to feed her.—
Kathleen Walsh,
Vulture,
13 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
As anticipated, the environmental trickery and effects are out of this world.—
Philip Potempa,
Chicago Tribune,
29 Aug. 2025
-
During the tournament, some trickery helped the La Jollans against unfamiliar competitors, said Crista Hubbard (née Breihan).—
Ashley Mackin Solomon,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
18 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
Sudden reversals, judges warn, risk turning litigation into gamesmanship.—
Robert Alexander,
MSNBC Newsweek,
27 Aug. 2025
-
And Newsom, the California Governor and not-so-subtle contender for the Democratic nomination for President next turn, has threatened through allies to respond in kind to Texas’ gamesmanship.—
Philip Elliott,
Time,
4 Aug. 2025
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
Noun
-
There is a real seriousness to the score — the scheming bad-guy music has the artfulness of Prokofiev, and even the sneaking-around cues have musical integrity and structure.—
Tim Greiving,
Vulture,
3 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
In between is a huge chessboard for honing skills of strategy and guile while catching a tan.—
Mark David,
Robb Report,
4 Sep. 2025
-
There are no traces of guile, cynicism, arrogance or duplicity.—
John T. Shaw,
Chicago Tribune,
25 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Skulduggery.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/skulduggery. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share