Standard Lemma guide

fishy

adj · noun · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American, Received-Pronunciation: /ˈfɪʃi/
  • General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɪʃi
  • CMU ARPABET: F IH1 SH IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Of, from, or similar to fish.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • What is that fishy odor?

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: fishlike, fishly, ichthyic, piscine, fishen, fishish, fishy

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Suspicious; inspiring doubt.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: figuratively

Examples

  • I don't trust him; his claims seem fishy to me.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: dodgy, dubious, dicey, fishy, iffy, questionable, shady, shonky, sketchy

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Of a drag queen or a trans woman: appearing very feminine and resembling a cisgender woman.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Qualifier: LGBTQ slang

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

Diminutive of fish.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: childish, diminutive, form-of

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: fishy wishy

Antonyms: none provided

5

adjective

Meaning 5

of or relating to or resembling fish

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the soup had a fishy smell

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

adjective satellite

Meaning 6

not as expected

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • there was something fishy about the accident
  • up to some funny business
  • some definitely queer goings-on
  • a shady deal
  • her motives were suspect
  • suspicious behavior

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: funny, shady, suspect, suspicious

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Middle English fishi, fischey, equivalent to fish + -y.

Across languages

Translations

85 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: рибен (riben) — of, from, or similar to fish
  • Bulgarian: рибешки (ribeški) — of, from, or similar to fish
  • Chinese Mandarin: 魚 /鱼 (yú) — of, from, or similar to fish
  • Chinese Mandarin: 腥 (xīng) — of, from, or similar to fish
  • Czech: rybí — of, from, or similar to fish
  • Danish: fiskeagtig — of, from, or similar to fish
  • Dutch: visachtig — of, from, or similar to fish
  • Finnish: kalan — of, from, or similar to fish
  • Finnish: kalamainen — of, from, or similar to fish
  • Finnish: kalaisa — of, from, or similar to fish
  • French: de poisson — of, from, or similar to fish
  • French: ichthyique — of, from, or similar to fish
  • German: fischig — of, from, or similar to fish
  • German: Fisch- — of, from, or similar to fish
  • Italian: di pesce — of, from, or similar to fish
  • Japanese: 魚の (sakana no) — of, from, or similar to fish
  • Macedonian: ри́бен (ríben) — of, from, or similar to fish
  • Macedonian: ри́бин (ríbin) — of, from, or similar to fish
  • Macedonian: ри́бји (ríbji) — of, from, or similar to fish
  • Polish: rybi — of, from, or similar to fish
  • Portuguese: de peixe — of, from, or similar to fish
  • Russian: ры́бий (rýbij) — of, from, or similar to fish
  • Russian: ры́бный (rýbnyj) — of, from, or similar to fish
  • Russian: рыбоподо́бный (rybopodóbnyj) — of, from, or similar to fish
  • Slovak: rybí — of, from, or similar to fish
  • Slovak: rybací — of, from, or similar to fish
  • Swedish: fiskaktig — of, from, or similar to fish
  • Bulgarian: подозрителен (podozritelen) — suspicious; inspiring doubt
  • Bulgarian: съмнителен (sǎmnitelen) — suspicious; inspiring doubt
  • Catalan: sospitós — suspicious; inspiring doubt
  • Chinese Mandarin: 可疑 (kéyí) — suspicious; inspiring doubt
  • Danish: lusket — suspicious; inspiring doubt
  • Dutch: verdacht — suspicious; inspiring doubt
  • Finnish: epäilyttävä — suspicious; inspiring doubt
  • Finnish: mätä — suspicious; inspiring doubt
  • French: suspect — suspicious; inspiring doubt
  • Galician: sospeitoso — suspicious; inspiring doubt
  • German: anrüchig — suspicious; inspiring doubt
  • German: verdächtig — suspicious; inspiring doubt
  • Hungarian: bűzlik — suspicious; inspiring doubt
  • Italian: sospettoso — suspicious; inspiring doubt
  • Macedonian: сомни́телен (somnítelen) — suspicious; inspiring doubt
  • Macedonian: подозри́телен (podozrítelen) — suspicious; inspiring doubt
  • Polish: podejrzany — suspicious; inspiring doubt
  • Polish: śmierdzący — suspicious; inspiring doubt
  • Portuguese: suspeito — suspicious; inspiring doubt
  • Russian: подозри́тельный (podozrítelʹnyj) — suspicious; inspiring doubt
  • Russian: сомни́тельный (somnítelʹnyj) — suspicious; inspiring doubt
  • Spanish: sospechoso — suspicious; inspiring doubt
  • Swedish: skum — suspicious; inspiring doubt
  • Swedish: lurig — suspicious; inspiring doubt
  • Swedish: lurt — suspicious; inspiring doubt
  • Belarusian: ры́бка (rýbka) — little fish
  • Bulgarian: ри́бка (ríbka) — little fish
  • Chinese Mandarin: 小魚 /小鱼 (xiǎoyú) — little fish
  • Czech: rybička — little fish
  • Czech: rybka — little fish
  • Danish: småfisk — little fish
  • Dutch: visje — little fish
  • Esperanto: fiŝeto — little fish
  • Finnish: pikkukala — little fish
  • Finnish: sintti — little fish
  • Finnish: kalanen — little fish
  • French: petit poisson — little fish
  • Galician: peixiño — little fish
  • German: Fischlein — little fish
  • German: Fischchen — little fish
  • Greek: ψαράκι (psaráki) — little fish
  • Hungarian: halacska — little fish
  • Japanese: 小魚 (kozakana) — little fish
  • Norwegian Bokmål: småfisk — little fish
  • Polish: rybka — little fish
  • Portuguese: peixinho — little fish
  • Romanian: peștișor — little fish
  • Russian: ры́бка (rýbka) — little fish
  • Russian: рыбёшка (rybjóška) — little fish
  • Serbo-Croatian: рибица — little fish
  • Serbo-Croatian: ribica — little fish
  • Slovak: rybka — little fish
  • Lower Sorbian: rybka — little fish
  • Spanish: pececito — little fish
  • Spanish: pescadito — little fish
  • Swedish: småfisk — little fish
  • Swedish: firre — little fish
  • Ukrainian: ри́бка (rýbka) — little fish