chicanery Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun the use of tricks to deceive someone (usually to extract money from them)
    trickery; chicane; wile; shenanigan; guile.

WordNet

Chi*can"er*y noun
Etymology
F. chicanerie.
Definitions
  1. Mean or unfair artifice to perplex a cause and obscure the truth; stratagem; sharp practice; sophistry.
    Irritated by perpetual chicanery. Hallam.
    Syn. -- Trickery; sophistry; stratagem.

Webster 1913