hanky panky
Illicit romantic activity
Hanky panky is mildly mischievous or deceitful behavior, or sexual activity—usually suggesting something illicit or secretive.
The phrase often appears with a wink: No hanky panky while I'm gone.
It can describe shady dealings financial hanky panky or playful fooling around.
The reduplicated form gives it a lighthearted, almost childish tone despite the adult implications.
Romantic entanglement outside commitment
- flingForceful toss, or tryst
- trystSecret romantic meeting
- dallianceBrief, casual romance
- canoodlingAmorous physical affection
fooling around · making out · intimacy · rendezvous · liaison · infidelity · cheating · adultery
Mischievous or deceitful behavior
- tomfooleryFoolish or silly behavior
- monkey businessDeceitful or frivolous conduct
- funny businessDeceptive or mischievous conduct
- trickeryDeliberate deception or fraud
skulduggery · devilry · chicanery · misbehavior · antics · pranks · high jinks · roguery
Oblique disparaging remark
- double entendrePhrase with hidden lewdness
- code wordPrearranged secret term
- veiled referenceIndirect, disguised mention
- suggestiveHinting at impropriety
implication · wink-wink · insinuation · circumlocution · softening · genteel · coy · allusion
affair
Romantic entanglement outside commitment
canoodling · fooling around · making out · intimacy · rendezvous · liaison · infidelity · cheating · adultery · flirtation
shenanigans
Mischievous or deceitful behavior
- tomfooleryFoolish or silly behavior
- monkey businessDeceitful or frivolous conduct
- funny businessDeceptive or mischievous conduct
trickery · skulduggery · devilry · chicanery · misbehavior · antics · pranks · high jinks · roguery · horseplay
innuendo
Oblique disparaging remark
- double entendrePhrase with hidden lewdness
- code wordPrearranged secret term
- veiled referenceIndirect, disguised mention
suggestive · implication · wink-wink · insinuation · circumlocution · softening · genteel · coy · allusion · subtext
- rhyming reduplicativesflip flop, hip hop, tip top, zigzag, ping pong
- infidelityadultery, affair, adulteress, cheating, cheater
- innuendoinnuendo, sexual innuendo, double entendre, double meaning, implied meaning
hanky pankyhonesty
Truthfulness, sincerity
integrity · straightforwardness · uprightness · rectitude · probity
hanky pankyfidelity
Loyalty or exactness
faithfulness · chastity · monogamy · celibacy · abstinence
hanky pankystraight dealing
Honest, transparent transactions
fair play · transparency · ethical conduct · fair dealing · clean hands