shenanigans

she·nan·i·gan

S s

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- UK Pronunciation
- UK IPA
- [shuh-nan-i-guh n]
- /ʃəˈnæn ɪ gən/
- /ʃɪˈnæn.ɪ.ɡənz/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [shuh-nan-i-guh n]
- /ʃəˈnæn ɪ gən/

Definitions of shenanigans word

noun shenanigans Usually, shenanigans. mischief; prankishness: Halloween shenanigans. deceit; trickery. 1
noun shenanigans a mischievous or deceitful trick, practice, etc. 1
noun plural shenanigans You can use shenanigans to refer to rather dishonest or immoral behaviour, especially when you think it is amusing or interesting. 0
noun plural shenanigans roguishness; mischief; trickery 0

See all 4 definitions of shenanigans

Information block about the term

Origin of shenanigans

First appearance:

before 1850

One of the 32% newest English words

An Americanism dating back to 1850-55; of obscure origin

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Shenanigans

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of Shenanigans

shenanigans popularity

A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 42% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.

Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".

shenanigans usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for shenanigans

noun shenanigans

bait and switch — Bait and switch is used to refer to a sales technique in which goods are advertised at low prices in order to attract customers, although only a small number of the low-priced goods are available.
buffoonery — Buffoonery is foolish behaviour that makes you laugh.
carrying-on — unconventional or questionable behaviour
chicane — a bridge or whist hand without trumps
demarche — move, step, or manoeuvre, esp in diplomatic affairs

All 55 Synonyms of shenanigans