Synonyms for crooked
- adjective
Most common
Synonyms by meaning
Adjective
1. Stooped
2. Corrupt
corrupt, unscrupulous, dishonest, tortuous, devious, deceitful, venal, perverse, cunning, fraudulent, zigzag, twisty, crafty, tricky, underhand, serpentine, meandering, dishonorable US, dishonourable UK, insidious, designing, flexuous, anfractuous
3. Bent
bent, twisted, warped, distorted, gnarled, hooked, deformed, disfigured, twisting, contorted, angular, aquiline, aduncous
4. Askew
askew, irregular, wrong, wry, lopsided, awry, asymmetrical, catawampus US, acrook dated
Other
Definitions
- adj. 1
Not straight; having one or more bends or angles.
We walked up the crooked path to the top of the hill.
- adj. 2
Set at an angle; not vertical or square.
That picture is crooked - could you straighten it up for me?
- adj. 3
Dishonest or illegal; corrupt.
He was trying to interest me in another one of his crooked deals.
- adj. 4
Ill-tempered; grumpy; cranky.
I wouldn't try to talk to him just now, b'y! He's some crooked today!
Related words
- Word family
- crookedly crookedness
Choose the right word
To crook is to bend irregularly, as a crooked stick.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- dishonest At least he's honest about the fact he's dishonest.
- unscrupulous Many public school cafeterias are unscrupulous.
- bent The boy bent back to look up at his father's face.
- askew The picture is askew. Could you straighten it again?
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| crooked | rising | |
| dishonest | steady | |
| unscrupulous | steady | |
| bent | rising | |
| askew | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 3 letters
- wry1
- 4 letters
- bent1, awry2
- 5 letters
- wrong1, bowed1, askew2, venal2
- 6 letters
- tricky2, hooked1, warped1, crafty2, zigzag2, twisty2, akimbo3, acrook
- 7 letters
- corrupt2, twisted2, cunning2, angular3, devious3, stooped1, gnarled1
- 8 letters
- twisting2, perverse2, deformed2, lopsided3, tortuous3, stooping2, aquiline, flexuous, aduncous
- 9 letters
- designing3, irregular4, distorted3, dishonest3, insidious4, deceitful3, underhand, contorted3
- 10 letters
- fraudulent3, serpentine3, meandering4, disfigured3, geniculate, catawampus
- 11 letters
- anfractuous
- 12 letters
- unscrupulous4, asymmetrical5, dishonorable5
- 13 letters
- dishonourable
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (awry2 = 2 syllables).
In other languages
- Français
- tortu