shenanigans

1. 1
   cheatingnoun

   Deceitful tricks or underhanded games; trickery.

   Auditors uncovered years of accounting shenanigans at the firm.

   Voters are tired of the procedural shenanigans that keep the bill from ever reaching the floor.

   Similartrickery, chicanery, skulduggery, machinations

   Note

   In casual talk the word can be an accusation all by itself: to declare shenanigans, or call them, is to say aloud that you suspect cheating, as a shopper might when the register rings up more than the advertised price. In more sober use it labels underhanded practice in business or politics, accounting shenanigans or procedural ones, with a note of scorn rather than amusement.

2. 2
   naughty playnoun

   Playful mischief, especially the kind children get up to.

   The substitute teacher had little patience for the class's shenanigans.

   After a week of bedtime shenanigans, the twins were finally sleeping through the night.

   Similarantics, mischief, pranks, tomfoolery, horseplay

   Note

   Mischief of this kind nearly always comes in the plural and keeps company with a few verbs: children get up to their usual shenanigans, and a stern parent will not stand any. A character in Kate Chopin's At Fault puts it firmly: "I'm not the woman to stand any shenanigans from a child of mine."

3. 3
   strange eventsnoun

   Strange, unusual or wacky goings-on.

   The sitcom follows the shenanigans at a haunted bed-and-breakfast and its baffled owners.

   Between the power outage and the escaped parrot, the wedding had more than its share of shenanigans.

   Similargoings-on, antics, hijinks, capers

4. 4
   nouncolloquial

   Plural of shenanigan.

   Each of the con man's shenanigans was more daring than the last.

   He pulled three separate shenanigans on his roommate in a single afternoon.

   Note

   The singular shenanigan exists but is uncommon, and most writers treat shenanigans as a word in its own right, as in the "trickery" meaning. A counted use, such as two shenanigans or each of his shenanigans, is the clearest sign that the plural of one trick or prank is meant.

5. 5
   trick someoneverbcolloquial

   Third-person singular simple present of shenanigan.

   Note

   The verb's third-person form is spelled exactly like the familiar plural noun, so the sentence decides: in she shenanigans her brother, the word follows a subject and takes an object, which only a verb can do. The verb can also stand without an object, meaning simply that someone plays tricks or pulls pranks.

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