thimbleriggery means thimblerigging; deception. It carries an Arena rating of 1418, earned across 9 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, thimbleriggery ranks #7 of 17,126 for Most Satisfying to Say, #98 of 17,163 for Funniest Words, #868 of 17,140 for Most Whimsical Words, #1,456 of 17,142 for Most Ingenious Words.
Why “thimbleriggery” is a great word
Thimbleriggery is the art or practice of a specific, sleight-of-hand swindle, typified by the classic shell game. From *thimblerig* (a sleight-of-hand swindling game using three thimbles or cups and a pea) + the suffix *-ery* (denoting a class or kind of actions, behavior, or art). Unlike *chicanery*, which implies sophisticated, often legalistic subterfuge, or *legerdemain*, which can denote skillful conjuring for entertainment, thimbleriggery is deception reduced to a crude, manual, and carnival-grade fraud. It is the calloused hand moving faster than the eye, the barker’s patter drowning out the faint click of the pea, and the mark’s bitter certainty dissolving into air. It is the small, perfect theatre of dishonesty, proving the oldest truth: that human greed is most easily led to look precisely where it is told.
Etymology
From thimblerig + -ery.
noun
- thimblerigging; deception
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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