How to use shenanigan in a sentence
14 example sentences · noun, verb
Shenanigan means dishonest, underhanded, or unscrupulous activities or behaviour; skulduggery, trickery; also, mischievous behaviour or play; high jinks. Example: “Shanti and Tom are playing noisily upstairs again. They’re up to their usual shenanigans.”
Examples of shenanigan by meaning
verbTo play a deceitful confidence trick on (someone); to swindle, to trick; also, to carry out an act of mischief on...
- Gosh, I never was so shenaniganned in all my life.1932, John Beames, chapter V, in Gateway, London: Ernest Benn […], →OCLC, page 89
- I've already paid for it." I don't know, he shenaniganed something.2001, Amalia Sena Sánchez, quotee, “Fiesta”, in John Pen[daries] La Farge, editor, Turn Left at the Sleeping Dog: Scripting the Santa Fe...
verbTo play a deceitful confidence trick; also, to carry out an act of mischief.
- It does not look as if they have, but I suggest that that is one reason the Government shenaniganed around with the people of Wanganui.1986 July 9, R. F. H. Maxwell, “Debate—General”, in Parliamentary Debates (Hansard): Second Session, Forty-first Parliament (New Zealand...
- I'm just shenaniganning with you.2021, Michel Guyon, “From London to Gristlemoth”, in Archibald Finch and the Lost Witches, Kansas City, Mo.: Andrews McMeel Publishing...
More sentences with shenanigan
- Shanti and Tom are playing noisily upstairs again. They’re up to their usual shenanigans.From the entry shenanigans
- You should learn to spot their shenanigans and avoid being fooled.From the entry shenanigans
- I've had it with your shenanigans!From the entry have had it
- Unfortunately, tricks, treats and spoopy shenanigans aren't the only things escalating in the runup to Halloween.2018 October 29, Sara Serrano, “Where have all the cats gone? Campus cats mysteriously vanish around Collins Hall”, in Justin…. From the entry spoopy
- I’m too forswunke after sprunting all night, I’m getting too old for such mollynogging shenanigans!2016 July 31, Grandiloquent Word of the Day. From the entry sprunt
- I'm not sitting waiting to take over, competing for his office." So no Brown-Blair shenanigans?2009 November 1, Camilla Long, “Come join me in the doghouse: Vince Cable was the sage of the credit crunch but these days his calls are…. From the entry Shrekky
- There is claim-jumping galore, murder, robbery, train ride shenanigans, sheriffs, bare fist fights and all the go-withs.1942 May, “Movie Reviews: The Spoilers”, in Modern Screen, volume 24, number 6, New York, N.Y.: Dell Publishing Co., Inc., page 102. From the entry the dickens out of
- Thanks to one user's glee at revealing his chaotic evil shenanigans to the world, a photo of it has gone viral.2019 November 19, Ashley Hoffman, “Trolling Expert Unleashes the Most Chaotic Evil Prank: Fake Airpod^([sic]) Stickers”, in Time, New…. From the entry chaotic evil
- Despite Kid’s quasicontroversial nature, Deighan isn’t worried about any shenanigans.2007 December 4, Ted Alvarez, “Kid Rock brings rock-rap-county mash-up to Vail”, in The Aspen Times. From the entry quasicontroversial
- He was the minority leader's political eyes and ears— nicknamed "the Electrician," due to all the intrigue and legislative shenanigans he was wired into.1996, H. L. Richardson, Split Ticket, →ISBN, page 54. From the entry wire
Meaning of shenanigan
- noun Dishonest, underhanded, or unscrupulous activities or behaviour; skulduggery, trickery; also, mischievous behaviour or play; high jinks.
- verb To play a deceitful confidence trick on (someone); to swindle, to trick; also, to carry out an act of mischief on (someone); to prank.
- verb To play a deceitful confidence trick; also, to carry out an act of mischief.
Questions about shenanigan in a sentence
- How do you use shenanigan in a sentence?
- Shenanigan is used as a noun and verb. For example: “Shanti and Tom are playing noisily upstairs again. They’re up to their usual shenanigans.”
- What is a short sentence with shenanigan?
- “I'm just shenaniganning with you.”
- What does shenanigan mean?
- Shenanigan means dishonest, underhanded, or unscrupulous activities or behaviour; skulduggery, trickery; also, mischievous behaviour or play; high jinks.
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: shenanigan (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this page: “How to use shenanigan in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/shenanigan. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
