crooked
Americanadjective
-
not straight; bending; curved.
a crooked path.
-
The picture on the wall seems to be crooked.
-
a man with a crooked back.
- Synonyms:
- misshapen
-
not straightforward; dishonest.
- Synonyms:
- fraudulent, deceitful, knavish, unscrupulous
-
bent and often raised or moved to one side, as a finger or neck.
-
(of a coin) polygonal.
a crooked sixpence.
adjective
-
bent, angled or winding
-
set at an angle; not straight
-
deformed or contorted
-
informal dishonest or illegal
-
informal hostile or averse to
Other Word Forms
- crookedly adverb
- crookedness noun
- uncrooked adjective
- uncrookedly adverb
Etymology
Origin of crooked
First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English croked; see crook 1, -ed 2
Explanation
Something crooked is not straight, like a trail through the woods, or your cousin's unfortunate set of teeth. Crook is a Middle English verb meaning "bend," which comes from the Norse for hook. So crooked means "bent out of shape or curving around sharply." A picture hanging diagonally on the wall is crooked, and so is a hunchback's spine. We also use crooked metaphorically to talk about being bent out of moral shape, so to speak. A crooked politician is dishonest and takes bribes, and crooked businessmen steal from unsuspecting clients.
Vocabulary lists containing crooked
Words from Shakespearean Insults
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"The Jacket"
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Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I have a dream" speech
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He successfully lobbied for laws in the U.S., the U.K. and European Union that provide financial sanctions against crooked foreign officials and human rights violators.
From Barron's • Mar. 31, 2026
Or, a trauma to the area—like my cyst removal or other injuries—could make your crack crooked.
From Slate • Feb. 22, 2026
In late August, a TikTok featuring an eccentric, over-the-top British man with a black bob and crooked teeth went viral.
From Salon • Dec. 26, 2025
“I mean, you take a 10%, 20%, 15% of a guy’s NIL money, that’s Bernie Madoff level,” Cronin said Friday, referencing the crooked financier who was convicted in a massive Ponzi scheme.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 5, 2025
His face remained fixed in an expression of polite indifference, but the finger that had been absently stroking his cheek now edged to his crooked nose.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
