crooked
adjective · verb
Form of crook , past tense of crook.
Simple meaning
Not straight; having one or more bends or angles.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
kruuktIPA pronunciation (US)
kɹʊkt
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
Not straight; having one or more bends or angles.
“We walked up the crooked path to the top of the hill.”
Set at an angle; not vertical or square.
“That picture is crooked - could you straighten it up for me?”
Dishonest or illegal; corrupt.
“He was trying to interest me in another one of his crooked deals.”
verb
past tense of crook
To bend, or form into a hook.
“He crooked his finger toward me.”
past tense of crook
To become bent or hooked.
To turn from the path of rectitude; to pervert; to misapply; to twist.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Not straight; having one or more bends or angles.
Used this way, crooked is a common word with a clearly unfavourable pull. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“We walked up the crooked path to the top of the hill.”
- Emotional tone
- Negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Gentle
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Serious and weighty
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
How It’s Used
The word’s distinct uses, one example each.
Straightadjective
“We walked up the crooked path to the top of the hill.”
Setadjective
“That picture is crooked - could you straighten it up for me?”
Dishonestadjective
“He was trying to interest me in another one of his crooked deals.”
Bendverb
“He crooked his finger toward me.”
More ways to use crooked
- “Crooked country roads.”adjective
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API (CC BY-SA 3.0). Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.