fishy

[fish-ee]

adjective

fishier, fishiest 

1. like a fish in shape, smell, taste, or the like.

2. consisting of fish.

3. abounding in fish.

4. Informal.,  improbable, as a story; unlikely.

5. Informal.,  of questionable character; suspicious.

   The sudden knockout was fishy.

   Synonyms: dubious, suspect, strange, queer, peculiar

6. dull and expressionless.

   fishy eyes.

fishy

/ ˈfɪʃɪ /

adjective

1. of, involving, or suggestive of fish

2. abounding in fish

3. informal,  suspicious, doubtful, or questionable

   their leaving at the same time looked fishy

4. dull and lifeless

   a fishy look

Other Word Forms

• fishily adverb
• fishiness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of fishy¹

First recorded in 1540–50; fish + -y ¹

Example Sentences

Another smelled like a pile of wet rope encrusted with seaweed and left to rot in the sun, and a nasty, fishy aroma it was.

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“Salty, briny, fishy...I think I have it,” he said after a moment.

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If someone gave you a price that was too good to be true, or made the process completely frictionless, your brother might very well say, “Something is fishy here. It’s too easy.”

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“You know that something is ‘fishy,’” he wrote, “We will get to the bottom of it very quickly.”

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Seabirds from all around were drawn to a frothy, fishy patch of ocean.

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Related Words

• dubious 
• odd