crooked
/ˈkrʊkɪd
/adjective (crookeder, crookedest)
1Bent or twisted out of shape or out of place: his teeth were yellow and crooked...
- The wing lost its crooked shape, becoming straight, but not without pain to its owner.
- There was this big logo on the wall shaped like a crooked cross with a big red sun in the middle.
- Some first or permanent teeth may be missing, abnormally shaped or crooked.
Synonyms
bent, curved, twisted, contorted, warped, angled, bowed, hooked
misshapen, deformed, malformed, out of shape, distorted, contorted, wry, gnarled, disfigured;
hunched, humped, bowed, curved;
Scottish thrawn
2 informal Dishonest; illegal: a crooked business deal...
- The people who perpetrated that buy-back scheme are despicable, deceitful, dishonest, and crooked.
- If this is true, then people are just naturally dishonest and crooked and downright rotten.
- Criminals of all hues from drug dealers to crooked business people are busy trying to convert hoarded pounds.
Synonyms
criminal, illegal, unlawful, questionable, dubious, nefarious;
dishonest, dishonourable, unscrupulous, unprincipled, amoral, untrustworthy, crafty, deceitful, shifty, Janus-faced, underhand;
corrupt, corruptible, buyable, venal, grafting, swindling, fraudulent
informal shady, tricky
British informal bent, dodgy
Law malfeasant
3 (usually crooked on) Australian /NZ informal Annoyed; exasperated: ‘It’s not you I’m crooked on,’ he assured Vivien
1940s: from the phrase go crook 'become angry'
Derivatives
crookedly
/ adverb ...- When we spoke he smiled crookedly and seemed very happy to see us.
- I couldn't help it and grinned crookedly at her.
- Both frames hung crookedly against the painted surface.
crookedness
/ noun ...- He became so reckless in his deceptions and crookedness precisely because he believed himself to be untouchable.
- ‘We had not realised our government was capable of such folly and such crookedness,’ thundered the leader.
- The crookedness seemed to make his face even more handsome.
Origin
Middle English: from crook, probably modelled on Old Norse krókóttr 'crooked, cunning'.
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