adjective
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full of shade; shaded
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affording or casting a shade
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dim, quiet, or concealed
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informal dubious or questionable as to honesty or legality
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of shady
Explanation
Any place that's protected from the glare and heat of the sun is shady, as in a "shady nook." But as its darkened nature implies, shady has the equally popular meaning of "suspicious, dangerous, or deceitful." A "shady character" is up to no good. The metaphorical meaning of shady has long been embraced by slang. Since at least the 1950's, the phrase "got it made in the shade" means having a great and easy life or job (picture eastern sultans being shaded by servants holding giant leaves). The rap sultan Eminem calls his evil alter-ego "Slim Shady," conjuring up a devilish suggestion of the Prince of Darkness himself — someone who definitely lives in a shady neighborhood.
Vocabulary lists containing shady
"To an Athlete Dying Young" by A. E. Housman
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Lights Out: Synonyms for "Dark"
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Way Off: Synonyms for "Wrong"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
But can the group trust its shady employers?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
Danger lurked in the shady groves of avocado trees that stretched on the mountainsides as far as the eye could see.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 6, 2026
"The more you unpick this story, the more murky, the more shady, the concerning it becomes," Ellwood told Newsnight.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
"We've already lost trees," said Rosie Fyles, head of gardens at Chiswick House in west London, whose Kent-designed shady lawns dotted with statues and cedars of Lebanon date back to the 18th century.
From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026
She did not see the shady, endless banana groves on both sides of the tracks.
From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Other schools have to choose between conflicting long-term priorities, the student report said: Plans for the future construction of additional classrooms to accommodate growing student enrollments can outweigh the desire to create shadier open spaces.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2025
“These passages remind us that too much sun can be harmful, and that safety and comfort are to be found in the darker, shadier places,” she writes.
From Slate ● Jul. 23, 2025
When Andy Morling heard about a revolutionary new weight-loss cure on the BBC last spring, he figured it might spark a shadier market for fakes.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 15, 2024
A staple favourite for a shadier spot in the garden, the much-loved foxglove's floral beauty comes with a dark side.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2023
I felt dizzy in the heat and headed to the shadier pavilion.
From "Three Little Words: A Memoir" by Ashley Rhodes-Courter
Meanwhile a mobile app developed by an undergraduate to direct people to the shadiest walking paths has gained traction online, particularly among students.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
If planted in part-sun, they are likely to stay small and stunted, so give these your shadiest spot.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 9, 2023
"These types of conservation easements, some of them are the shadiest of the shady transactions," Wyden told HuffPost earlier this month.
From Salon ● Dec. 15, 2021
Ms. Donovan, a force on Twitter and a longtime student of the shadiest corners of the internet, said she defines “misinformation” as “false information that’s being spread.”
From New York Times ● Nov. 28, 2021
There were still traces of grainy old snowbanks in the shadiest spots, but in places the sun was actually hot.
From "The Birchbark House" by Louise Erdrich
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
