shenanigans
she·na·ni·gans/ʃəˈnæn.ə.ɡɪnz/noun, verb
shenanigans is spelled S-H-E-N-A-N-I-G-A-N-S: 11 letters and 4 syllables (she·na·ni·gans). It appears 1.6 times per million words in written English, the 22,073rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, shenanigans means “Mischievous play, especially by children” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in shenanigans?
| Letters | 11: S-H-E-N-A-N-I-G-A-N-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4: she·na·ni·gans |
| In writing | 1.6 times per million words; the 22,073rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is shenanigans?
Shenanigans appears 1.6 times per million words in written English, the 22,073rd 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 shenanigans?
- UK /ʃɪˈnæn.ɪ.ɡənz/
- UK [ʃɪˈnæn.ɪ.ɡn̩z]
- US /ʃəˈnæn.ə.ɡɪnz/
Shenanigans has 4 syllables, split she·na·ni·gans in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-shenanigans.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of shenanigans
- shenanigan singular
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does shenanigans mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Mischievous play, especially by children.
Shanti and Tom are playing noisily upstairs again. They’re up to their usual shenanigans.
- 2
Deceitful tricks; trickery; games.
You should learn to spot their shenanigans and avoid being fooled.
- 3
Strange, unusual, weird, or wacky occurrences.
- 4
plural of shenanigan.
verb
- 1
third-person singular simple present indicative of shenanigan
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate shenanigans?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of shenanigans: shenans.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Shenanigans in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | chahut, frasques, facéties, pitreries , combine, grenouillage |
| German | Ausfressereien , Schummelei, Pfuscherei, Streich, Verarsche, Schabernack |
| Spanish | ocurrencias, travesuras , artimaña |
| Portuguese | falcatrua, travessuras |
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 shenanigans come from?
From shenanigan + -s.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).