shenanigan

Meaning

Noun

1. (countable, form-of, in-plural, informal, singular) singular of shenanigans: a deceitful confidence trick; also, an act of mischief; a prank, a trick; an act of mischievous play, especially by children.
2. (dated, informal, rare, uncountable) Dishonest, underhanded, or unscrupulous activities or behaviour; skulduggery, trickery; also, mischievous behaviour or play; high jinks.

Verb

1. (informal, transitive) To play a deceitful confidence trick on (someone); to swindle, to trick; also, to carry out an act of mischief on (someone); to prank.
2. (informal, intransitive) To play a deceitful confidence trick; also, to carry out an act of mischief.

shenanigans

• Noun
• Verb

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Synonyms

mischief

trickery

roguery

roguishness

mischievousness

deviltry

chicane

guile

chicanery

devilment

devilry

mischief-making

rascality

wile

inanity

irregularity

joke

🤣

knavery

mess

mush

naughtiness

nonsense

nonsensicalness

piffle

ploy

prank

puerility

rot

scheme

silliness

skullduggery

slyness

stratagem

subterfuge

trick

trickiness

wildness

tommy rot

patchery

ataxy

trickishness

dodgery

skuldyggery

trappiness

phenakism

ataxia

trickeration

baloney

bunk

clutter

Translations

κατεργαριά

Schwindel

ruse

artimanha

diableria

estratagema

sofisma

truaneria

ardit

arteria

engalipada

farfolla

Betrug

List

brivallada

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ʃəˈnæn.ɪˌɡən/

Etymology

The origin of the noun is uncertain. As the earliest attestations are from California, U.S.A., in the 1850s towards the end of the California gold rush (see the quotations), it is possible that the word derives from one of the following:
* Irish sionnachuighim (“to play tricks”, literally “to play the fox”); Irishmen were among the people participating in the gold rush. (See also the 31 December 1854 quotation suggesting it is an “Irish word”.)
* Spanish chanada, a shortening of charranada (“deceit, trick”); California was colonized by the Spanish Empire in the 18th century, and many people from Latin America also took part in the gold rush.
Other suggestions are set out in the table below.
possible etymologies
* From the East Anglian dialectal word nannicking (“playing the fool”).
* From French ces manigances (“these fraudulent schemes”).
* From German Scheinheilige (“sham holy men; sham holy actions”), scheinheilig (“hypocritical”) (18th c.)
* From Rhine Franconian schinägeln (“to work hard”), from the peddler’s argot term Schenigelei (“work”).
The verb is derived from the noun.