shifty

[ shif-tee ]

/ ˈʃɪf ti /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR shifty ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective, shift·i·er, shift·i·est.

resourceful; fertile in expedients.

given to or full of evasions; tricky.

suggesting a deceptive or evasive character: a shifty look.

Nearby words

shifter, shifting cultivation, shifting spanner, shiftless, shiftwork, shifty, shiga-kruse bacillus, shigella, shigella boydii, shigella dysenteriae, shigella flexneri

Origin of shifty

First recorded in 1560–70; shift + -y¹

SYNONYMS FOR shifty

2 crafty, foxy, slippery.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR shifty ON THESAURUS.COM

Related forms

shift·i·ly, adverbshift·i·ness, nounun·shift·y, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for shifty

Through some shifty maneuvering, I cut the line and managed to be one of the first ones in.
Partying With the Golden Globes Stars: Taylor Swift Cuts a Rug, Ben Affleck Holds Court, and More|Marlow Stern|January 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Whether you like or loathe the AMC mystery, you love Holder, the shifty cop played by Joel Kinnaman.
Joel Kinnaman: ‘The Killing’s’ Scene-Stealer|Tricia Romano|May 25, 2012|DAILY BEAST
His lower face is brutal, his eyes small and shifty, and ugly straight lines run across his low forehead.
While the Billy Boils|Henry Lawson
The eyes were restless and shifty, giving him an appearance of uneasiness.
Gabriel Tolliver|Joel Chandler Harris

Conboy looked at him with quick flashing of his shifty eyes.
Trail's End|George W. Ogden
Her eyes were shifty with the habit of fear and sunken with the weariness of crying.
Out To Win|Coningsby Dawson
The stairway reeked with associations of poverty, a shifty poverty, and Victor's gorge rose at it.
Victor Ollnee's Discipline|Hamlin Garland

British Dictionary definitions for shifty

shifty

/ (ˈʃɪftɪ) /

adjective shiftier or shiftiest

given to evasions; artful

furtive in character or appearance

full of expedients; resourceful

Derived Forms

shiftily, adverbshiftiness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012