"shenanigan" meaning in All languages combined

See shenanigan on Wiktionary

Noun [English]

IPA: /ʃəˈnæn.ɪˌɡən/ Audio: shenanigan_us.ogg [US] Forms: shenanigans [plural]
Etymology: Of uncertain origin. Earliest known use comes from San Francisco in 1855 at the time of the California Gold Rush. These possibilities have been suggested: * French ces manigances (“these fraudulent schemes”). * Spanish chanada, shortening of charranada (“trick, deceit”). * Irish sionnachuighim (“I play the fox”). * Rhine Franconian schinägeln (“to work hard”), from the peddler's argot term Schenigelei (“work”). * East Anglian dialect nannicking (“playing the fool”). * 18th century German Scheinheilige (“sham holy men / sham holy actions”, noun plural), scheinheilig (“hypocritical”) Etymology templates: {{unc|en|nocap=1}} uncertain, {{der|en|fr|manigance|ces manigances|t=these fraudulent schemes}} French ces manigances (“these fraudulent schemes”), {{der|en|es|chanada}} Spanish chanada, {{m|es|charranada||trick, deceit}} charranada (“trick, deceit”), {{der|en|ga|sionnachuighim|t=I play the fox}} Irish sionnachuighim (“I play the fox”), {{der|en|gmw-rfr|schinägeln|t=to work hard}} Rhine Franconian schinägeln (“to work hard”), {{m|gmw-rfr||Schenigelei|t=work}} Schenigelei (“work”), {{m|en|nannicking|t=playing the fool}} nannicking (“playing the fool”), {{der|en|de|Scheinheilige|pos=noun plural|t=sham holy men / sham holy actions}} German Scheinheilige (“sham holy men / sham holy actions”, noun plural), {{m|de|scheinheilig|t=hypocritical}} scheinheilig (“hypocritical”) Head templates: {{en-noun|~}} shenanigan (countable and uncountable, plural shenanigans)
  1. (countable) A deceitful confidence trick, or mischief causing discomfort or annoyance. Tags: countable
    Sense id: en-shenanigan-en-noun--DEZLrKL Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 92 8
  2. (uncountable, dated, rare) singular of shenanigans. Tags: dated, form-of, rare, singular, uncountable Form of: shenanigans
    Sense id: en-shenanigan-en-noun-QDbUVXIh
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Derived forms: shenanigous

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

Download JSON data for shenanigan meaning in All languages combined (4.8kB)

{
  "derived": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "shenanigous"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "nocap": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "uncertain",
      "name": "unc"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fr",
        "3": "manigance",
        "4": "ces manigances",
        "t": "these fraudulent schemes"
      },
      "expansion": "French ces manigances (“these fraudulent schemes”)",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "es",
        "3": "chanada"
      },
      "expansion": "Spanish chanada",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "es",
        "2": "charranada",
        "3": "",
        "4": "trick, deceit"
      },
      "expansion": "charranada (“trick, deceit”)",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ga",
        "3": "sionnachuighim",
        "t": "I play the fox"
      },
      "expansion": "Irish sionnachuighim (“I play the fox”)",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gmw-rfr",
        "3": "schinägeln",
        "t": "to work hard"
      },
      "expansion": "Rhine Franconian schinägeln (“to work hard”)",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "gmw-rfr",
        "2": "",
        "3": "Schenigelei",
        "t": "work"
      },
      "expansion": "Schenigelei (“work”)",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "nannicking",
        "t": "playing the fool"
      },
      "expansion": "nannicking (“playing the fool”)",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "de",
        "3": "Scheinheilige",
        "pos": "noun plural",
        "t": "sham holy men / sham holy actions"
      },
      "expansion": "German Scheinheilige (“sham holy men / sham holy actions”, noun plural)",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "scheinheilig",
        "t": "hypocritical"
      },
      "expansion": "scheinheilig (“hypocritical”)",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Of uncertain origin. Earliest known use comes from San Francisco in 1855 at the time of the California Gold Rush. These possibilities have been suggested:\n* French ces manigances (“these fraudulent schemes”).\n* Spanish chanada, shortening of charranada (“trick, deceit”).\n* Irish sionnachuighim (“I play the fox”).\n* Rhine Franconian schinägeln (“to work hard”), from the peddler's argot term Schenigelei (“work”).\n* East Anglian dialect nannicking (“playing the fool”).\n* 18th century German Scheinheilige (“sham holy men / sham holy actions”, noun plural), scheinheilig (“hypocritical”)",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "shenanigans",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "~"
      },
      "expansion": "shenanigan (countable and uncountable, plural shenanigans)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "92 8",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "I spotted his next shenanigan – saw it coming – and so avoided being fooled.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A deceitful confidence trick, or mischief causing discomfort or annoyance."
      ],
      "id": "en-shenanigan-en-noun--DEZLrKL",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(countable) A deceitful confidence trick, or mischief causing discomfort or annoyance."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1855 September, “Mr. Soap’s Yachting Excursion”, in Yankee-notions, volume IV, number 9, New York, N.Y.: Published by T. W. Strong, 98 Nassau-st., →OCLC, page 280",
          "text": "One of Professor [John] Moon's most astonishing \"experiments,\" consisted of holding a watch suspended from a short chain at arm's length, and allowing anyone in the pit to pull pistol and \"blaze away\" at the word \"fire,\" whereupon the watch would most unconscionably disappear. An individual who had attended several evenings and witnessed the \"experiment,\" suspected, in the classic language of the times, that there was something of \"shenanigan\" in it.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "[1877], Cha[rle]s H. Sparks, “Political History”, in History of Winneshiek County, with Biographical Sketches of Its Eminent Men, Decorah, Iowa: Jas. Alex. Leonard, →OCLC, page 31",
          "text": "There are stories still told how money was used and promised, but from the best knowledge I can acquire, I think this is not true. If sharp practice was played, and \"shenanigan\" was used, we, to-day, looking back upon those times, cannot say that evil has come of it.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "form_of": [
        {
          "word": "shenanigans"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "singular of shenanigans."
      ],
      "id": "en-shenanigan-en-noun-QDbUVXIh",
      "links": [
        [
          "shenanigans",
          "shenanigans#English"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(uncountable, dated, rare) singular of shenanigans."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "dated",
        "form-of",
        "rare",
        "singular",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ʃəˈnæn.ɪˌɡən/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "shenanigan_us.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/29/Shenanigan_us.ogg/Shenanigan_us.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Shenanigan_us.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (US)"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "California Gold Rush",
    "East Anglian English"
  ],
  "word": "shenanigan"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English 4-syllable words",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "English terms with unknown etymologies",
    "English uncountable nouns"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "shenanigous"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "nocap": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "uncertain",
      "name": "unc"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fr",
        "3": "manigance",
        "4": "ces manigances",
        "t": "these fraudulent schemes"
      },
      "expansion": "French ces manigances (“these fraudulent schemes”)",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "es",
        "3": "chanada"
      },
      "expansion": "Spanish chanada",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "es",
        "2": "charranada",
        "3": "",
        "4": "trick, deceit"
      },
      "expansion": "charranada (“trick, deceit”)",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ga",
        "3": "sionnachuighim",
        "t": "I play the fox"
      },
      "expansion": "Irish sionnachuighim (“I play the fox”)",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gmw-rfr",
        "3": "schinägeln",
        "t": "to work hard"
      },
      "expansion": "Rhine Franconian schinägeln (“to work hard”)",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "gmw-rfr",
        "2": "",
        "3": "Schenigelei",
        "t": "work"
      },
      "expansion": "Schenigelei (“work”)",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "nannicking",
        "t": "playing the fool"
      },
      "expansion": "nannicking (“playing the fool”)",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "de",
        "3": "Scheinheilige",
        "pos": "noun plural",
        "t": "sham holy men / sham holy actions"
      },
      "expansion": "German Scheinheilige (“sham holy men / sham holy actions”, noun plural)",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "scheinheilig",
        "t": "hypocritical"
      },
      "expansion": "scheinheilig (“hypocritical”)",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Of uncertain origin. Earliest known use comes from San Francisco in 1855 at the time of the California Gold Rush. These possibilities have been suggested:\n* French ces manigances (“these fraudulent schemes”).\n* Spanish chanada, shortening of charranada (“trick, deceit”).\n* Irish sionnachuighim (“I play the fox”).\n* Rhine Franconian schinägeln (“to work hard”), from the peddler's argot term Schenigelei (“work”).\n* East Anglian dialect nannicking (“playing the fool”).\n* 18th century German Scheinheilige (“sham holy men / sham holy actions”, noun plural), scheinheilig (“hypocritical”)",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "shenanigans",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "~"
      },
      "expansion": "shenanigan (countable and uncountable, plural shenanigans)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English countable nouns",
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "I spotted his next shenanigan – saw it coming – and so avoided being fooled.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A deceitful confidence trick, or mischief causing discomfort or annoyance."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(countable) A deceitful confidence trick, or mischief causing discomfort or annoyance."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English dated terms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with rare senses",
        "English uncountable nouns"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1855 September, “Mr. Soap’s Yachting Excursion”, in Yankee-notions, volume IV, number 9, New York, N.Y.: Published by T. W. Strong, 98 Nassau-st., →OCLC, page 280",
          "text": "One of Professor [John] Moon's most astonishing \"experiments,\" consisted of holding a watch suspended from a short chain at arm's length, and allowing anyone in the pit to pull pistol and \"blaze away\" at the word \"fire,\" whereupon the watch would most unconscionably disappear. An individual who had attended several evenings and witnessed the \"experiment,\" suspected, in the classic language of the times, that there was something of \"shenanigan\" in it.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "[1877], Cha[rle]s H. Sparks, “Political History”, in History of Winneshiek County, with Biographical Sketches of Its Eminent Men, Decorah, Iowa: Jas. Alex. Leonard, →OCLC, page 31",
          "text": "There are stories still told how money was used and promised, but from the best knowledge I can acquire, I think this is not true. If sharp practice was played, and \"shenanigan\" was used, we, to-day, looking back upon those times, cannot say that evil has come of it.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "form_of": [
        {
          "word": "shenanigans"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "singular of shenanigans."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "shenanigans",
          "shenanigans#English"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(uncountable, dated, rare) singular of shenanigans."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "dated",
        "form-of",
        "rare",
        "singular",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ʃəˈnæn.ɪˌɡən/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "shenanigan_us.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/29/Shenanigan_us.ogg/Shenanigan_us.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Shenanigan_us.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (US)"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "California Gold Rush",
    "East Anglian English"
  ],
  "word": "shenanigan"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-03 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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