knavery

From their study of English history, they learned what might be called the law of knavery: there aren’t any good ways to get rid of a bad king.

From The New Yorker ● Oct. 21, 2019

“I only know that it is mixed, that you cannot separate good from bad, that wisdom, courage and benevolence exist alongside knavery, greed and stupidity; heroism and fortitude alongside vainglory, cruelty and corruption.”

From New York Times ● Mar. 14, 2018

He looks upon the Trojan War, and all the warriors who risk their lives in it, with a vision that strips all noble motives away and sees only lechery, roguery, and knavery.

From The New Yorker ● Aug. 9, 2016

We like to think of our transgressions as caused less by our own knavery than by the wrong genes or maltreatment in childhood.

From The Guardian ● Mar. 7, 2011

After years of deception, exploitation, and knavery, the Sixers have finally managed to buy and cheat their way to the entrance of the Third Gate.

From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline

Told in the fictitious third person of Jim's confidant and publicity man, it records the entire gamut of his knaveries, but gives him where possible the benefit of the doubt.

From Time Magazine Archive

Hearing the praise of his exploits, he studies craft, and seeks parental admiration by adroit knaveries.

From Twelve Causes of Dishonesty by Henry Ward Beecher

At the meeting the case against the poet is first stated; he has not only lampooned women, he has taught their husbands how to counter their knaveries and is an atheist.

From Authors of Greece by T. W. Lumb

They are not ignorant of the frauds, the knaveries, the fables, and hypocrisies, by which that system is supported.

From Pilgrimage from the Alps to the Tiber Or The Influence of Romanism on Trade, Justice, and Knowledge by James Aitken Wylie

"After all," said my adored Dorothy, "I prefer the rogue who when he goes about his knaveries has at least the decency to wear a mask."

From Gallantry Dizain des Fetes Galantes by James Branch Cabell