Synonyms
Examples of crook in a Sentence
Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 4 May 2020
Over the last decades, people are using smartphones and gadgets and living a working life by the computer with shoulders crooked forward.
—Vogue, 16 May 2019
Doing so causes the C930 to spring open slightly, allowing you to crook a finger under the lid and continue opening it.
—Mark Hachman, PCWorld, 30 Aug. 2018
Lines that appear straight on the linens were crooked when scanned into a computer.
—Vipal Monga, WSJ, 30 May 2018
Would crooked Hillary have brought little rocket man to the table?
—Fox News, 2 May 2018
Mother daughter teas are a particularly fun opportunity for mothers and daughters to dress up, crook their pinkies while eating tiny sandwiches, sip tea, and spend quality time together.
—Melissa Locker, Southern Living, 31 Jan. 2018
Mills crooked his head, brow furrowed, and paused a second.
—Michael Powell, New York Times, 17 July 2017
Alexis Soloski, New York Times, 6 Mar. 2024
Shortly after my aerobics class started, the crook called the community center pretending to be a bank manager.
—Michelle Singletary, Washington Post, 21 Feb. 2024
The more crooks know about the layout, the better for them.
—Kim Komando, USA TODAY, 1 Mar. 2024
When the socialites, who are the target of a high-profile kidnapping ring, refuse to go through with the trip, the brothers disguise themselves as the pair to flush out the crooks.
—Andrew Walsh, EW.com, 29 Feb. 2024
The car should have been picked up by a pair of loopy crooks, Arliss (Joey Slotnick) and Flint (C. J. Wilson), and the case in the trunk is one for which a man has been killed (by a waiter who stabs him with a corkscrew to the neck).
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 23 Feb. 2024
There is a market desperate for drone jammers, and in the Russian defence business, that means money for crooks.
—David Hambling, Forbes, 22 Feb. 2024
More:Tax pros warned that 'new client' could be a scammer, as crooks seek sensitive data
How to complain about fraud
Consumers can report scams to the Michigan Attorney General’s consumer protection division.
—Susan Tompor, Detroit Free Press, 19 Feb. 2024
Hearn, the collector whose initiative helped investigators get to the bottom of the scam, believes that Morrisseau’s identity as a part of a marginalized group was helpful to the crooks.
—Jordan Michael Smith, Smithsonian Magazine, 13 Feb. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'crook.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Noun
Middle English crok, from Old Norse krōkr hook
Adjective
probably short for crooked
Verb
12th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense
Noun
13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Adjective
1898, in the meaning defined above
Phrases Containing crook
Dictionary Entries Near crook
Cite this Entry
“Crook.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/crook. Accessed 17 Apr. 2024.
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Kids Definition
crook
1 of 2 verbcrook
2 of 2 noun
More from Merriam-Webster on crook
Nglish: Translation of crook for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of crook for Arabic Speakers
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about crook
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