shifty
/ˈʃɪfti
/adjective (shiftier, shiftiest) informal
1(Of a person or their manner) appearing deceitful or evasive: he had a shifty look about him...
- She was shifty, evasive and clearly unprepared for the assault.
- No, he said, he did not agree that he was shifty or dishonest, but he pointed out that he had moved his position on evidence once or twice.
- We're pretty sure there are shifty people somewhere.
Synonyms
devious, evasive, slippery, duplicitous, false, deceitful, underhand, untrustworthy, double-dealing, two-faced, Janus-faced, dishonest, shady, wily, crafty, cunning, tricky, sneaky, furtive, treacherous, artful, sly, scheming, contriving;
North American snide, snidey
informal foxy, iffy
Australian/New Zealand informal shonky
2Constantly changing; shifting: it was a close race in a shifty wind on smooth water...
- On the last lap, the wind freshened and became more shifty.
- According to both experts and victims, the shifty world of immigration consultation here often works in conjunction with networks in the refugees' home countries.
Derivatives
shiftily
/ adverb ...- She looks about shiftily and whispers: ‘Round the back.’
- Sandwiched between the ceremonial swords and bric-a-brac, teenage boys gaze shiftily at the firearms on display in a Manchester shop.
- Each time I picked up a book I looked shiftily around, holding it out in front of me at head height, so as not to appear like a person about to steal.
shiftiness
- Seriously I laughed for a good 1/2 hr but then I got serious and thought whoa do I give off some aura of shiftiness that I'm not aware of?
- But there's a certain shiftiness about ‘political’ people.
- He chose gray, the color of deceit and shiftiness.