crook C2+ Topic:People & Society US /krʊk/ UK /krʊk/ See IPA manual Meanings 1 noun a dishonest person, or a bent or hooked thing The shopkeeper called the swindler a crook to his face. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 noun · a dishonest person, or a... thiefswindlercheatroguefraudscoundrelvillain ↔ Opposites straight Word family Derived forms crookedcrookedly Related forms crochetcrotchetcrutch Etymology AI details From Middle English 'crok', borrowed from Old Norse 'krókr' ('hook, bend'); the 'dishonest person' sense (a 'bent' character) is a 19th-century American development. krókr Old Norse View etymology graph -> Topics People & Society External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # crook **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** noun **IPA (US):** /krʊk/ **IPA (UK):** /krʊk/ ## Meanings 1. a dishonest person, or a bent or hooked thing ## Examples - The shopkeeper called the swindler a crook to his face. ## Synonyms - thief - swindler - cheat - rogue - fraud - scoundrel - villain ## Antonyms - straight ## Derived Forms - crooked - crookedly ## Related Forms - crochet - crotchet - crutch ## Roots and Affixes - Root: krókr ## Etymology From Middle English 'crok', borrowed from Old Norse 'krókr' ('hook, bend'); the 'dishonest person' sense (a 'bent' character) is a 19th-century American development. ## AI Etymology Crook comes from Middle English 'crok', borrowed from Old Norse 'krókr' ('hook, bend'); the 'dishonest person' sense (a 'bent' character) is a 19th-century American development. The historical trail runs through Old Norse krókr. The later sense follows a semantic development already present in the word's history. In modern use it means a dishonest person, or a bent or hooked thing. Derived formations include crooked, crookedly; related forms include crochet, crotchet, crutch. ## Topics - People & Society markdown