dirty tricks
12
6.0
- noun
- /ˈdɜrti trɪks/
:
maniobras sucias
- The politician's campaign was marred by numerous dirty tricks aimed at discrediting his opponent.
- dirty tricks campaign
- political dirty tricks
- resort to dirty tricks
There were also all sorts of dirty tricks they could pull on their customers too.
- There were also all sorts of dirty tricks they could pull on their customers too.
- And, you know, she's been the airline's been bullied by British Airways famously through The Dirty tricks campaign.
- They paid him to write a book called How to Lie about Smoking with Statistics that was never published when when sort of word of some other dirty tricks got out.
- And also all The Dirty tricks, you know, that come with getting like, like engagement pause, like all of this stuff.
Examples
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It's standard Republican dirty tricks, a long trail leading right to Richard.
Blog text (9) -
You are saying that Bush 41 ran a filthy campaign replete with lies, character assassination, and dirty tricks.
Blog text (25) -
None of your dirty tricks this time.
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I still think the possibility of dirty tricks makes this a very, very bad idea.
Blog text (1) -
There were also all sorts of dirty tricks they could pull on their customers too.
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We the people can't let them silence us with these dirty tricks.
Blog text (21) -
I think Rove and Romney thought they could steal the state of Ohio and the election using dirty tricks.
Blog text (21) -
The opposition, for its part, is as well versed in dirty tricks as PRI traditionalists are.
Academic text (1999) -
I've seen many negotiators in the past; they usually use all kinds of dirty tricks up their sleeves to seal the deal.
Blog text (11) -
But let's say they're last-minute dirty tricks: misleading robocalls, misleading mailers, rigged voting machines, and the like.
Blog text (24)
Synonyms
187
2.1
An act of tricking someone to get an unfair advantage
46
5.3
An illegal, violent, or dishonest action that suggests a crime
27
4.9
To use dishonest ways to cheat people
16
5.5
An organized effort to hurt someone's reputation by making false or unfair accusations
11
8.1
A clever trick that deceives people or hides the truth
9
4.8
Making unfair personal attacks to damage someone's reputation in politics
8
9.3
Tricks people use to deceive others to get money or advantage
8
8.6
Secret or dishonest actions that try to cheat people
4
5.6
Dishonest actions in business or money matters
3
9.9
Secret dishonest actions that trick people to get money or power
2
7.4
Organized effort to spread secret bad rumors to make people think badly of someone
1
9.8
Secret dishonest actions to get an unfair advantage
1
7.5
Behaving dishonestly by pretending one thing and doing another
1
9.7
Dishonest words or actions that try to trick people
1
6.3
Dishonest behavior in business or money matters
An attempt to damage someone's reputation by making false claims
Dishonest actions that try to trick people
A plan to control people by tricking them
A plan that uses dishonest tricks to get an unfair advantage
Dishonest, cruel methods used to hurt others or gain advantage
Actions that cheat people to get their money
How Dishonest
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'dirty' (dishonest/unfair) modifies 'tricks' (deceitful acts), so 'dirty tricks' straightforwardly denotes underhand or dishonest actions. This adjective+noun combination and its metaphorical extension are common cross-linguistically and follow standard composition patterns, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
Dirty tricks imagines dirty (messy or unfair) tricks, like someone secretly throwing mud on a rival to make them look bad. That's why it means 'dishonest actions' used to hurt an opponent or their chances.