dodgy

[ doj-ee ]

adjective

, dodg·i·er, dodg·i·est.

1. inclined to dodge.
2. evasively tricky:

   a dodgy manner of dealing with people.

3. Chiefly British. risky; hazardous; chancy.

dodgy

/ ˈdɒdʒɪ /

adjective

1. risky, difficult, or dangerous
2. uncertain or unreliable; tricky

Word History and Origins

Origin of dodgy¹

First recorded in 1860–65; dodge + -y ¹

Example Sentences

When in 1803 Jefferson unconstitutionally bought Louisiana from Napoleon using a dodgy British loan, neither the Senate nor the Supreme Court stopped him.

From Washington Post

While some businesses, like Amazon and Walmart, have already offered cash incentives to encourage workers to get vaccinated, most haven’t followed suit for fear of entering dodgy legal territory.

From Digiday

To succeed, someone would need to physically access your phone and install a monitoring app, or trick you into clicking on a link, opening a dodgy email attachment, or downloading something from outside your operating system’s official app store.

From Popular-Science

The minute you temporarily unlatch yourself from your snowshoes, as I’m forced to do when ascending a dodgier hillside with a couple of exposed rocks, you realize just how hard your calves and quads have been working.

From Washington Post

Scam sleuthers have found that many of scam websites have links to companies in Britain, where lax government rules allow for dodgy shell companies to be created for dirt cheap.

From Time

The idea that her horses are being given dodgy feed will not go down well.

From The Daily Beast

For many workers, their time in Singapore involves an intricate web of deals, kickbacks, dodgy contracts, exploitation and abuse.

From The Daily Beast

The very premise makes for a dodgy commercial undertaking, thus kudos to Anderson for venturing on it.

From The Daily Beast

She took up the miserable chore of attending dodgy networking events, but out of that morass came the character of Tallah.

From The Daily Beast

China has been a leading source of dodgy carbon offsets used by the EU carbon trading scheme.

From The Daily Beast

There was Scarfe, light and dodgy, ready for a run or a neat drop-kick from half-back.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• evasive
• shifty