chicanery
/ʃɪˈkeɪn(ə)ɹi/noun
chicanery is spelled C-H-I-C-A-N-E-R-Y: 9 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 6 million words in written English, the 71,529th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, chicanery means “Deception by the use of trickery, quibbling, or subterfuge” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of chicanery is chicaneries.
How many letters and syllables are in chicanery?
| Letters | 9: C-H-I-C-A-N-E-R-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 6 million words; the 71,529th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is chicanery?
Chicanery appears about once in every 6 million words in written English, the 71,529th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce chicanery?
- US /ʃɪˈkeɪn(ə)ɹi/
- Australia /ʃəˈkæɪn(ə)ɹi/
Chicanery has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-chicanery.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of chicanery
- chicaneries plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does chicanery mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Deception by the use of trickery, quibbling, or subterfuge.
- 2
An individual act of trickery or deception.
- 3
archaicThe quality of being inclined to trickery or deceitfulness.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Chicanery in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Täuschung f Schikane, Täuschungsmanöver |
| Portuguese | chicana |
| Spanish | chicana, triquiñuela |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does chicanery come from?
From French chicanerie (“trickery”), from chicaner, from Middle French chicaner, borrowed from Middle Low German schicken, from Old Saxon *skikkian, from Proto-West Germanic *skikkijan (“to order, arrange”). Related to German schicken (“to send, ship”), Middle English skekken (“to send forth, issue”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).