hanky-panky
UK/ˌhæŋkɪˈpæŋki/
hanky-panky noun: mischievous behaviour; dishonest or shady activity.
Noun
hanky-panky (countable and uncountable, plural hanky-pankies)
- Mischievous behaviour; dishonest or shady activity.
- I think there was some hanky-panky with the last election.
- Are you sickened by the idea of more and more CIA hankypanky in Central America?1984 April 21, Sue Hyde, “Got Those Intervention Blues, Friend?”, in Gay Community News, page 2
- Amorous behaviour, making out, necking, sex or other sexual activity, especially if illicit.
- I don't wanna cry / I just wanna hanky panky / Nothing like a good spanky1990, “Hanky Panky”, in I'm Breathless, performed by Madonna
- You're my doll, rock and roll, feel the glamor in pink / Kiss me here, touch me there, hanky-panky1997, “Barbie Girl”, in Aquarium, performed by Aqua
- Synonyms:
- roll in the hay, aphrodisia, carnal knowledge, coitus, coition, commerce, commixtion, congress, conjunction, connection
- A debaucherous act; a sexual act that is considered inappropriate.
- A cocktail made from gin, sweet vermouth, and Fernet-Branca fernet.
hanky-panky meaning in Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada
hanky-panky in Tamil
- மாயவித்தை, மறைவான வஞ்சக நடவடிக்கை, கீழறுத்தல்
hanky-panky in Malayalam
- mischief, goings-on, funny business
- ചുറ്റിക്കളി, വളരെ ഗൗരവമല്ലാത്ത അനാശാസ്യമായ പ്രവൃത്തി, വളരെ ഗൗരവമല്ലാത്ത അനാശാസ്യമായ പെരുമാറ്റം, ലെെംഗികച്ചുവയുള്ള അനുചിതപെരുമാറ്റം, നേരമ്പോക്ക്, ഇടപാട്
hanky-panky in Kannada
- ಕೈಚಳಕ, ಕಣ್ಕಟ್ಟು, ಜಗ್ಲರಿ, ಮೋಸ, ವಂಚನೆ, ಠಕ್ಕು
Synonyms of hanky-panky
- roll in the hay
- carnal knowledge
- coitus
- coition
- connection
- consummation
- copulation
- coupling
- intercourse
- intimacy
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
- intimate relations
- intromission
- joining
- lovemaking
- lustmaking
- mating
- mounting
- pareunia
- penetration
- relations
- sex
- sexual congress
- sexual intercourse
- sexual relation
- sexual union
- swiving
- union
- the beast with two backs
- the birds and the bees
- boom-boom
- chesterfield rugby
- horizontal dancing
- horizontal hula
- horizontal jogging
- horizontal mambo
- horizontal refreshments
- horizontal slam dance
- how's your father
- love
- Netflix and chill
Forms of hanky-panky
| plural | hanky-pankies |
|---|---|
| alternative form | hanky panky |
Origin of hanky-panky
Possibly a corruption of the Romani expression hakk'ni panki ("great trick", "big con" and hence "shady dealings").
Questions about hanky-panky
- What does hanky-panky mean?
- Hanky-panky means mischievous behaviour; dishonest or shady activity.
- What is hanky-panky in Tamil?
- Hanky-panky in Tamil is மாயவித்தை, மறைவான வஞ்சக நடவடிக்கை, கீழறுத்தல். See Hanky-panky meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is hanky-panky?
- Hanky-panky is a noun.
- How do you pronounce hanky-panky?
- Hanky-panky is pronounced /ˌhæŋkɪˈpæŋki/ (UK).
- What is the plural of hanky-panky?
- The plural of hanky-panky is hanky-pankies.
Words near hanky-panky in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: hanky-panky (page history and authors); hanky-panky (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); hanky-panky (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); hanky-panky (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-hanky-panky.ogg.
Cite this entry: “hanky-panky.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/hanky-panky. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.