skulduggery

== English == === Alternative forms === sculduggery, scullduggery, skullduggery === Etymology === An alteration of Scots sculduddery, sculdudrie (“adultery, unchaste behaviour; obscenity, lewdness”), of long-uncertain origin (probably a euphemism). Relation to skull is speculative at best and likely folk etymology. The American spelling skullduggery is in keeping with terms such as skillful and willful. === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /skʌlˈdʌɡəɹi/, /skʌlˈdʌɡɹi/ (General American) IPA(key): /ˌskʌlˈdʌɡəɹi/, /ˌskʌlˈdʌɡɹi/, /ˌskəlˈdəɡ-/ Hyphenation: skul‧dug‧ge‧ry === Noun === skulduggery (countable and uncountable, plural skulduggeries) (countable) A devious device or trick. Synonyms: ruse, stratagem, subterfuge (uncountable) Dishonest, underhanded, or unscrupulous activities or behaviour. Synonyms: dishonesty, jiggery-pokery, subterfuge, thugduggery, trickery, underhandedness, unscrupulousness Antonyms: honesty, probity ==== Synonyms ==== See also Thesaurus:deception ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === References === === Further reading === skullduggery (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia