crook 1 of 2

noun

Definition of crooknext
1
as in criminal
a person who has committed a crime a guy at the bar was raving about how all politicians are basically crooks

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in curve
something that curves or is curved carried the baby in the crook of her arm

Synonyms & Similar Words

crook

2 of 2

verb

ˈkru̇k How to pronounce crook (audio)
1
as in to hook
to cause to turn away from a straight line crooked a finger

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to curve
to turn away from a straight line or course the road suddenly crooked to the left

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of crook
Noun
In a key role, Gathegi will play a small-time crook with big time ambitions who is in over his head, according to sources. — Borys Kit, HollywoodReporter, 30 Sep. 2026 The crook, wearing a green Nike Tech sweatsuit, fled empty handed west on 35th Ave. — Roni Jacobson, New York Daily News, 24 Sep. 2026
Verb
The Charlotte Observer dived into the crowd, lifted our arms to reach faces and crooked our necks to chat with the crowd. — Charlotte Observer, 8 Dec. 2025 This is the best approach for stars whose characters have crooked, chipped or missing teeth. — Gary Baum, The Hollywood Reporter, 5 Aug. 2024 See All Example Sentences for crook
Recent Examples of Synonyms for crook
  1. criminal
  2. curve
  3. hook
  4. offender
  5. bend
  6. arch
  7. curvature
  8. angle
Noun
  • That same month, criminals nabbed a $4 million diamond necklace from Vienna’s Museum of Applied Arts (MAK).
    — Lianne Kolirin, CNN Money, 16 Oct. 2026
  • For decades, Hollywood actor Danny Trejo’s bread and butter was playing gangsters, prison inmates and other assorted criminals.
    — Corky Siemaszko, NBC news, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of criminal
Noun
  • Solving a memory problem One particularly notable result concerns modular inversion, a mathematical operation used in elliptic-curve arithmetic.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Sakurai is already ahead of the curve by leaning into the material’s brainless escapism.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of curve
Verb
  • You’ll be hooked enough to pick up the next in the series, A Court of Mist and Fury, which follows the love story between Feyre and her mate.
    — Anna Moeslein, Glamour, 17 Oct. 2026
  • Officials want compact plants that hook directly into factories and server farms.
    — Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 17 Oct. 2026
Definition of hook
Noun
  • Research on offenders with mental disorders suggests that recidivism depends more on criminal history than on diagnosis.
    — Leigh Egan, FOXNews.com, 16 Oct. 2026
  • At the root of the crisis is inadequate laws to punish offenders and a poor judicial system, activists say.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of offender
Noun
  • When the drone flies near an object and a whisker grazes or bends against a surface, the pressure changes at the base are measured in under two milliseconds, enabling the drone to calculate contact location and depth with millimeter precision.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 14 Oct. 2026
  • The region could see 3 to 7 inches of rain, but some spots in the panhandle and big bend could see up to 15 inches, forecasters warned.
    — Alex Harris, Miami Herald, 9 Oct. 2026
Definition of bend
Verb
  • But try to go back the other way, the doorway is rectangular rather than arched.
    — Adam Harrington, CBS News, 16 Oct. 2026
  • There is an intentional yawning gap in the floor leading to the basement, and nearly half the building is an open void crisscrossed by arching beams.
    — Tim Hornyak, New York Times, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of arch
Noun
  • Most recently introduced monitors of this size have a slight curvature.
    — Zackery Cuevas, PC Magazine, 15 Oct. 2026
  • Individual fibers can detect curvature along a line, but reconstructing an entire surface presents a greater challenge.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 9 Oct. 2026
Definition of curvature
Noun
  • The bat might have gone higher than the 25-degree launch angle on his homer.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Brunson beats defenders with skill and not size, relying on footwork, fakes and spins that create angles to get his shot off against taller defenders.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of angle

Phrases Containing crook

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cronyism
crook
crooked
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Cite this Entry

“Crook.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/crook. Accessed 21 Oct. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on crook

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about crook

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