Trickery Meaning
/ˈtɹɪ.kə.ɹi/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounDeception, deceit or underhanded behavior.
nounThe art of dressing up; imposture, pretense.
Sentence Examples
What sort of trickery do you have in store for me tonight?
This is Cao Cao's trickery.
The ones who lack courage, exceed in trickery.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The thief used ____ to get into the house by disguising himself as a delivery man.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He used a lot of ____ and deceit to win the game, which made the other players very unhappy and angry today.
Word Origin & History
From trick + -ery, first recorded in 1719.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"[H]e did not wrap his rugged subject in silks and ermines, and other sickly trickeries of phrase."
— 1809, Washington Irving, chapter 47, in Knickerbocker's History of New York:
"In trickery, evasion, procrastination, spoliation, botheration, under false pretences of all sorts, there are influences that can never come to good."
— 1852, Charles Dickens, chapter 1, in Bleak House:
"The miners found diversions even in his alleged frauds and trickeries . . . and were fond of relating with great gusto his evasion of the Foreign Miners' Tax."
— 1898, Bret Harte, “See UP”, in Stories in Light and Shadow:
"French winger Hatem Ben Arfa has also taken plenty of plaudits recently and he was the architect of the opening goal with some superb trickery on the left touchline."
— 2012 April 21, Jonathan Jurejko, “Newcastle 3-0 Stoke”, in BBC Sport:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The thief used ____ to get into the house by disguising himself as a delivery man.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He used a lot of ____ and deceit to win the game, which made the other players very unhappy and angry today.