1
as in mischief
usually shenanigans plural
playful, reckless behavior that is not intended to cause serious harm
students engaging in youthful shenanigans on the last day of school
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in joking
usually shenanigans plural
wildly playful or mischievous behavior
an act of vandalism that went way beyond the usual shenanigans at summer camp
Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in ruse
a clever often underhanded means to achieve an end
the street-corner huckster of pirated DVDs had all sorts of shenanigans to keep the cops off of his tail
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of shenanigan
In ‘Kansas City,’ Altman shot an entire concert in this club and then edited it into the flow of the film, where the musicians are providing a Greek chorus to all the shenanigans that are going on with the white characters.
—
Chris Willman, Variety, 24 Mar. 2026
And that dude was always up to some weird shenanigans.
—Maggie Fremont, Vulture, 20 Mar. 2026
That’s the consensus opinion of fans and participants alike to the promotional shenanigans ahead of this weekend’s Fanatics Flag Football Classic at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles and next month’s WWE WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
—Steve Henson, Los Angeles Times, 20 Mar. 2026
The incident comes as authorities throughout the Sunshine State are cracking down on spring break shenanigans as college students descend on beaches up and down the coast.
—Julia Bonavita, FOXNews.com, 19 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for shenanigan
Chris Willman, Variety, 24 Mar. 2026
And that dude was always up to some weird shenanigans.
—Maggie Fremont, Vulture, 20 Mar. 2026
That’s the consensus opinion of fans and participants alike to the promotional shenanigans ahead of this weekend’s Fanatics Flag Football Classic at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles and next month’s WWE WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
—Steve Henson, Los Angeles Times, 20 Mar. 2026
The incident comes as authorities throughout the Sunshine State are cracking down on spring break shenanigans as college students descend on beaches up and down the coast.
—Julia Bonavita, FOXNews.com, 19 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for shenanigan
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shenanigan
Noun
-
Four other charges in that case — including assault, criminal mischief and domestic violence in the presence of a child — were dismissed with prejudice, the records show.—
Meriam Bouarrouj,
NBC news,
3 Apr. 2026
-
Christopher Nastasa, 39, was arrested on 19 charges, including robbery, assault, petit larceny and criminal mischief as hate crimes, for the March 17 attack, according to police.—
Colin Mixson,
New York Daily News,
2 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
There was none of the usual laughing and joking.—
Mario Cortegana,
New York Times,
20 Mar. 2026
-
Lindsay says that Jesse was serious about asking, but that the make-out would be a joking make-out.—
Brian Moylan,
Vulture,
4 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Six phone calls made from one of the suspect numbers — in between calls to the San Francisco victim on the day of his robbery — were to a Los Angeles man who was zip-tied, duct-taped and beaten inside his Los Angeles home on New Year’s Eve, following a delivery ruse.—
Megan Cassidy,
San Francisco Chronicle,
3 Apr. 2026
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Antoine’s art dealer Armand (Lellouche), desperate to keep Antoine from falling apart, urges Suzanne to keep the ruse alive.—
Melanie Goodfellow,
Deadline,
1 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The costs of decades of misconduct by Chicago police have grown enormous as the city settles lawsuit after lawsuit using expensive private counsel to handle most of the work.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
30 Mar. 2026
-
And of course, Andrew being stripped of his titles and evicted from Royal Lodge, only to then be arrested for suspicion of misconduct in public office.—
Lizzie Lanuza,
StyleCaster,
30 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
The Jazz are 15-35, which puts them at the sixth pick if zero lottery-ball tomfoolery happens.—
Zach Harper,
New York Times,
3 Feb. 2026
-
But enough of all that tomfoolery, because there is one person on the beach who knows exactly what is about to happen!—
Dalton Ross,
Entertainment Weekly,
6 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
The prosecution said all along that the two younger defendants were part of the scheme, but Alaniz Pineda was the one who shot Canoy.—
Shannon Tyler,
Idaho Statesman,
4 Apr. 2026
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Authorities arrested eight people accused of conducting a series of health care fraud schemes that bilked tens of millions of dollars from Medicare and other insurance companies across Southern California, prosecutors announced April 2.—
Thao Nguyen,
USA Today,
3 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Old dog learns new tricks UConn forward Alex Karaban, who played on the 2023 and ’24 champions, is attempting to become the first non-UCLA player to win three national championships.—
Sean Hammond,
Chicago Tribune,
3 Apr. 2026
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The brain bug's intrinsic ick factor is undeniably high, but using their proboscises to suck thoughts directly from the brains of their unfortunate victims is a pretty neat party trick.—
Richard Edwards,
Space.com,
2 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The show, with its interest in corporate buffoonery, doesn’t quite manage to hand-wave away the queasy implications.—
Inkoo Kang,
New Yorker,
27 Mar. 2026
-
Receivers have cratered seasons with me-over-we buffoonery.—
Troy Renck,
Denver Post,
19 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Shenanigan.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shenanigan. Accessed 5 Apr. 2026.
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