hanky panky
hanky panky is the alternative spelling of hanky-panky.
Meaning of hanky-panky
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.
- 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
- 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.
Forms of hanky panky
| plural | hanky pankies |
|---|
Questions about hanky panky
- What is hanky panky the alternative spelling of?
- Hanky panky is the alternative spelling of hanky-panky.
Words near hanky panky in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: hanky panky (page history and authors); hanky-panky (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: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-hanky panky.wav.
Cite this entry: “hanky panky.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/hanky_panky. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
