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crooked

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crooked¹

  • /kɹʊkt/ Australia, US, New Zealand
  • /kɹɵkt/ British, Southern, Standard
  • /kɾʊkt/ Wales
  • /kɾʉkt/ Scotland
  • /kɻʉkt/ Northern Ireland

Rhymes with -ʊkt

Where it comes from

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

verb

  1. participle, past simple past and past participle of crook

crooked²

  • /kɹʊkɪd/ US, UK
  • /kɹɵkɪd/ British, Southern, Standard
  • /kɹʊkəd/ Australia, New Zealand
  • /kɾʊkɪd/ Wales
  • /kɾʉkɪd/ Scotland
  • /kɻʉkɪd/ Northern Ireland

Rhymes with -ʊkɪd

Where it comes from

From Middle English croked, crokid, past participle of croken (“to crook, bend”). Cognate with Danish kroget (“crooked”). More at crook.

adjective more crooked · most crooked

  1. Not straight; having one or more bends or angles. We walked up the crooked path to the top of the hill.
  2. Set at an angle; not vertical or square. That picture is crooked - could you straighten it up for me?
  3. figuratively Dishonest or illegal; corrupt. He was trying to interest me in another one of his crooked deals.
  4. Newfoundland, dialectal Ill-tempered; grumpy; cranky. I wouldn't try to talk to him just now, b'y! He's some crooked today!

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: bent, bending, anfractuous, twisty, tortuous, twisted, askew, awry, winding, contorted, writhen, wry, stooping, stooped, zigzag, knotty

Translations

Every language

adj having one or more bends or angles

日本語曲がった magatta
中文彎曲 /弯曲 wānqū, 歪 wāi
Kiswahilikombo
Portuguêstorto
Françaiscourbé, tortueux
Deutschkrumm, schief, bogenförmig
Italianostorto, curvo, contorto, ritorto, tortuoso
Românăstrâmb
Русскийкриво́й krivój, изо́гнутый izógnutyj, скрю́ченный skrjúčennyj, искривлённый iskrivljónnyj
עבריתעקום akúm

adj set at an angle

Españoltorcido, chueco, lunanco, maltrecho, malparado
Kiswahilikombo
Portuguêstorto
Françaistordu
Deutschschräg, schief
Italianotorto
Русскийискривлённый iskrivljónnyj
עבריתנטוי natúy

adj figurative: dishonest, illegal

Españolímprobo
日本語不正 fusei
中文歪 wāi, 不正當 /不正当 bù zhèngdàng
Portuguêsdesonesto
Françaistordu, improbe, malhonnête
Deutschbetrügerisch, unehrlich, krumm, link
Italianocontorto
Русскийнече́стный nečéstnyj
עבריתעקש ikésh

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MLA

"crooked." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/crooked. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

crooked. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/crooked

Chicago

"crooked." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/crooked.

BibTeX
@misc{crooked_2026,
  title = {crooked},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/crooked},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}