Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Having or marked by bends, curves, or angles.
  • adjective At an irregular or improper angle; askew.
  • adjective Informal Dishonest or unscrupulous; fraudulent.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Bent; having angles or curves; deviating from a straight line; curved; curving; winding.
  • Not straight, in a figurative sense, especially as regards rectitude of conduct; not upright or straightforward; not honest; wrong; perverse; cross-grained.
  • Hence Made or sold in secret, without the payment of the taxes or submitting to the regulations or inspection required by law: as, crooked whisky.
  • Synonyms Bowed, awry, askew, deformed, distorted.
  • Deceitful, tricky, dishonorable, knavish. See irregular.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Characterized by a crook or curve; not straight; turning; bent; twisted; deformed.
  • adjective Not straightforward; deviating from rectitude; distorted from the right.
  • adjective False; dishonest; fraudulent.
  • adjective [Slang, U.S.] whisky on which the payment of duty has been fraudulently evaded.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb Simple past tense and past participle of crook.
  • adjective Not straight; having one or more bends or angles.
  • adjective Set at an angle; not vertical or square.
  • adjective figuratively Dishonest or illegal; corrupt.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective irregular in shape or outline
  • adjective not straight; dishonest or immoral or evasive
  • adjective having or marked by bends or angles; not straight or aligned
  • adjective having the back and shoulders rounded; not erect

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From crook, equivalent to crook +‎ -ed.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

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

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Examples

  • If this finger is crooked, then these weaknesses are all the more emphasised, but if formed _crooked and long_ the power of eloquence is also crooked.

    Palmistry for All Cheiro

  • And I just want to ask you very quickly, though, about the president's point, that if, in going after what he called crooked doctors, one can use administrative subpoenas without going through a judge and a jury, why isn't that appropriate to go after suspected terrorists?

    CNN Transcript Sep 10, 2003 2003

  • WUKAN, China Reuters - Protesting Chinese villagers on Sunday demanded that central leaders defuse grievances about what they called crooked land deals and a suspicious death, as a revolt that has tested Communist Party authority in this semi-rural area neared its second week.

    Yahoo! News: Business - Opinion 2011

  • Well, I guess if being crooked is good enough for Illinois, it's good enough for the U.S.

    New RNC radio spots hit Blue Dog Dems 2009

  • And the Bug sang in crooked words, so that those who listened knew that the swarm was the Sea Valley tribe, that the bears were the Meat-Eaters, and that the lazy wasp was Split-Nose.

    THE STRENGTH OF THE STRONG 2010

  • "So crooked is this Malik character I don't trust him as far as I can throw my car."

    The law enforcement equivalent of an exhibition game 2009

  • "So crooked is this Malik character I don't trust him as far as I can throw my car."

    Lance Mannion: 2009

  • Hillary is personally involved in crooked land deals, insider trading, illegal campaign contributions, firing of white house travel agency, and a ridiculous health care plan but we want to talk about what some preacher has said in a sermon.

    Obama says he's 'outraged' with pastor's comments 2008

  • I call it crooked, but hey, each to his own, ronk.

    Sound Politics: Cantwell's Campaign Should Pay Its Debts 2006

  • And the Bug sang in crooked words, so that those who listened knew that the swarm was the Sea Valley tribe, that the bears were the Meat-Eaters, and that the lazy wasp was Split-Nose.

    The Strength of the Strong 1914

Comments

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  • "You should love your crooked neighbor with your crooked heart."- W.H. Auden, As I Walked Out One Evening.

    November 3, 2008

  • This one is as crooked as a dog's hind leg. - Columbo

    March 23, 2009