knavery

C2+ Topic:Ethics & Social Judgment

US /ˈneɪvəri/ UK /ˈneɪvəri/ See IPA manual

noun

Meanings

1

noun
dishonest or deceitful behavior

The merchant's knavery cost his customers dearly.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · dishonest or deceitful... dishonesty trickery deceit roguery chicanery duplicity villainy

Opposites

honesty integrity uprightness

Word family

Related forms knave knavish

Etymology

From knave (Old English cnafa, 'boy, servant', later 'rogue') + the noun suffix -ery denoting conduct or practice.

cnafa Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Ethics & Social Judgment Word Formation & Derivatives

# knavery

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** ˈneɪvəri
**IPA (UK):** ˈneɪvəri

## Meanings
1. dishonest or deceitful behavior

## Examples
- The merchant's knavery cost his customers dearly.

## Synonyms
- dishonesty
- trickery
- deceit
- roguery
- chicanery
- duplicity
- villainy

## Antonyms
- honesty
- integrity
- uprightness

## Related Forms
- knave
- knavish

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: cnafa

## Etymology
From knave (Old English cnafa, 'boy, servant', later 'rogue') + the noun suffix -ery denoting conduct or practice.

## AI Etymology
Knavery comes from knave (Old English cnafa, 'boy, servant', later 'rogue') + the noun suffix -ery denoting conduct or practice. The etymological trail includes Old English cnafa. As a noun, knavery means dishonest or deceitful behavior. The same family is visible in related forms such as knave and knavish. Morphologically, the word is built from the elements named in its history, so the modern form preserves a visible compound, prefix, or suffix structure.

## Topics
- Ethics & Social Judgment
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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knavery

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