adj
Meaning 1
Subject to frequent changes in direction.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
shifty
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.
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/ˈʃɪfti/
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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rhymes with -ɪfti
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CMU ARPABET: SH IH1 F T IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
adj
Meaning 2
Moving from one object to another; not looking directly and steadily at the person with whom one is speaking.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
- 1886, George Manville Fenn, This Man’s Wife, Chapter 3, in Littel’s Living Age, Volume 168, No. 2178, 20 March, 1886, p. 761, [...] his quick, shifty eyes turned from the manager to the lethal weapons over the chimney, then to the safe, then to the bank, and Mr. Thickens’s back.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 3
Having the appearance of being dishonest, criminal, or unreliable.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: idiomatic, informal
Examples
- He was a shifty character in a seedy bar, and I checked my wallet was still there after talking to him.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 4
Resourceful; full of, or ready with, shifts or expedients.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adjective satellite
Meaning 5
changing position or direction
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- he drifted into the shifting crowd
- their nervous shifting glances
- shifty winds
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: shifting
Antonyms: none provided
adjective satellite
Meaning 6
characterized by insincerity or deceit; evasive
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- a devious character
- shifty eyes
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: devious
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
From shift + -y.
Across languages
Translations
26 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Bulgarian: лъжлив (lǎžliv) — Having the appearance of someone dishonest, criminal or unreliable
- Bulgarian: измамнически (izmamničeski) — Having the appearance of someone dishonest, criminal or unreliable
- Danish: skummel — Having the appearance of someone dishonest, criminal or unreliable
- Finnish: epäluotettavan oloinen — Having the appearance of someone dishonest, criminal or unreliable
- French: louche — Having the appearance of someone dishonest, criminal or unreliable
- French: fuyant — Having the appearance of someone dishonest, criminal or unreliable
- Greek: πονηρός (ponirós) — Having the appearance of someone dishonest, criminal or unreliable
- Greek: πανούργος (panoúrgos) — Having the appearance of someone dishonest, criminal or unreliable
- Ancient Greek: πολύτροπος (polútropos) — Having the appearance of someone dishonest, criminal or unreliable
- Italian: sfuggente — Having the appearance of someone dishonest, criminal or unreliable
- Italian: ambiguo — Having the appearance of someone dishonest, criminal or unreliable
- Italian: equivoco — Having the appearance of someone dishonest, criminal or unreliable
- Macedonian: изма́мнички (izmámnički) — Having the appearance of someone dishonest, criminal or unreliable
- Macedonian: ла́жлив (lážliv) — Having the appearance of someone dishonest, criminal or unreliable
- Spanish: despiadado — Having the appearance of someone dishonest, criminal or unreliable
- Spanish: astuto — Having the appearance of someone dishonest, criminal or unreliable
- Swedish: lömsk — Having the appearance of someone dishonest, criminal or unreliable
- Swedish: skum — Having the appearance of someone dishonest, criminal or unreliable
- Bulgarian: променлив (promenliv) — Subject to frequent changes in direction
- Ancient Greek: πολύτροπος (polútropos) — Subject to frequent changes in direction
- Italian: sfuggevole — Subject to frequent changes in direction
- Italian: volubile — Subject to frequent changes in direction
- Italian: mutevole — Subject to frequent changes in direction
- Macedonian: про́менлив (prómenliv) — Subject to frequent changes in direction
- Russian: изменчивый (izménčivyj) — Subject to frequent changes in direction
- Russian: переменчивый (pereménčivyj) — Subject to frequent changes in direction
Real reading context