crooked
Askew or dishonest
Crooked means bent, curved, or not straight: a crooked path through the woods, a crooked smile.
The word extends to dishonest or corrupt behavior: a crooked politician, a crooked deal.
Something crooked deviates from what's expected—whether a physical line or a moral one.
Smoothly bent, not angular
- angledTurned from perpendicular
- hookedDeeply dependent or bent
- bowedCurved or bent over
- warpedBent out of true
kinked · arched · twisted · contorted · skewed · flexed · distorted · meandering
Tilted from true
- lopsidedUnequally balanced
- tiltedAngled from vertical
- off-centerNot at the midpoint
- awryCrooked or wrong
uneven · cockeyed · slanted · listing · canted · leaning · aslant · wonky
Inclined to mislead others
- fraudulentInvolving intentional dishonesty
- unscrupulousLacking moral principles
- shadyDisreputable or sun-blocked
- underhandedSecretly dishonest or unfair
scheming · duplicitous · treacherous · swindling · cheating · deceptive · conman · grifter
Not smooth or balanced
- jaggedSharply uneven, notched
- lumpyHaving irregular bumps
- bumpyUneven in surface
- asymmetricalNot equal on both sides
gnarled · knotty · rough · rutted · pitted · craggy · misshapen · distorted
Corrupt payment for influence
- graftIllicit political gain
- kickbackIllegal payment for services
- embezzlementFraudulent taking of entrusted assets
- racketeeringConducting illegal business schemes
nepotism · malfeasance · extortion · collusion · profiteering · scandal · payoff · cronyism
curved
Smoothly bent, not angular
warped · kinked · arched · twisted · contorted · skewed · flexed · distorted · meandering · serpentine
askew
Tilted from true
- lopsidedUnequally balanced
- tiltedAngled from vertical
- off-centerNot at the midpoint
awry · uneven · cockeyed · slanted · listing · canted · leaning · aslant · wonky · unbalanced
deceitful
Inclined to mislead others
- fraudulentInvolving intentional dishonesty
- unscrupulousLacking moral principles
- shadyDisreputable or sun-blocked
underhanded · scheming · duplicitous · treacherous · swindling · cheating · deceptive · conman · grifter · scammer
uneven
Not smooth or balanced
asymmetrical · gnarled · knotty · rough · rutted · pitted · craggy · misshapen · distorted · wavy
bribery
Corrupt payment for influence
- graftIllicit political gain
- kickbackIllegal payment for services
- embezzlementFraudulent taking of entrusted assets
racketeering · nepotism · malfeasance · extortion · collusion · profiteering · scandal · payoff · cronyism · patronage
- body part traitsbent, bony, bruised, calloused, flexible
- crookedaskew, awry, lopsided, off-center, off-kilter
- distortedwarped, twisted, bent, contorted, misshapen
- leaningtilt, slant, angle, list, cant
- misalignmentmisaligned, misalignment, off-center, displaced, off-kilter
- positioning errorsmisalignment, offset, misplacement, misregistration, off-center
crookedhonest
Free from deception
straight · law-abiding · upright · ethical · aboveboard
- crooked smileAsymmetrical facial expression
- crooked copCorrupt police officer
- shepherd's crookHooked staff for herding
- by hook or crookUsing whatever method necessary
- by hook or by crookUsing whatever method works
- crooked politician