trickery

noun

trick·​ery ˈtri-k(ə-)rē 

: the practice of crafty underhanded ingenuity to deceive or cheat

Synonyms

• artifice
• chicane
• chicanery
• gamesmanship
• hanky-panky
• jiggery-pokery
• jugglery
• legerdemain
• skulduggery
• skullduggery
• subterfuge
• wile

Choose the Right Synonym for trickery

deception, fraud, double-dealing, subterfuge, trickery mean the acts or practices of one who deliberately deceives.

deception may or may not imply blameworthiness, since it may suggest cheating or merely tactical resource.

magicians are masters of deception

fraud always implies guilt and often criminality in act or practice.

indicted for fraud

double-dealing suggests treachery or at least action contrary to a professed attitude.

a go-between suspected of double-dealing

subterfuge suggests the adoption of a stratagem or the telling of a lie in order to escape guilt or to gain an end.

obtained the papers by subterfuge

trickery implies ingenious acts intended to dupe or cheat.

resorted to trickery to gain their ends

Examples of trickery in a Sentence

He resorted to trickery to get what he wanted.

Delia resorted to trickery—even loading up the fishing equipment—to induce her dog into the car for his vet appointment.

Recent Examples on the Web

While sudden incidents wrest the plot in new directions, the film is driven less by perverse narrative trickery than by the arbitrary cruelty of fate or the volatility of human nature. —Guy Lodge, Variety, 26 Sep. 2024

At the same time, Sun Wukong often gets the better of the gods, either through trickery or martial prowess. —Michael Naparstek, The Conversation, 23 Sep. 2024

There is, of course, a hint of trickery and self-deception in all this. —Alexei Navalny, The New Yorker, 11 Oct. 2024

But Barbato’s hands were not completely tied, and there is some fun editing trickery to make sequences feel like oners and static shots when they are composed of several edits and finessed so that the comic timing shines through. —Sarah Shachat, IndieWire, 1 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1796, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

trickery

noun

trick·​ery ˈtrik-(ə-)rē 

plural trickeries

: the use of tricks to deceive or cheat