shifty
English
AI In plain words
Writing a short explanation…
Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
shifty
- /ˈʃɪfti/
Rhymes with -ɪfti
Where it comes from
From shift + -y. Cognate with Dutch schiftig (“loose-fitting, open-textured”).
adjective shiftier · shiftiest
- Subject to frequent changes in direction. Off he raced, shuffling his bare feet through the hot, dry, shifty sand.
- Moving from one object to another; not looking directly and steadily at the person with whom one is speaking. 1886, George Manville Fenn, This Man’s Wife, Chapter 3, in Littel’s Living Age, Volume 168, No. 2178, 20 March, 1886, p. 761, […] his quick, shifty eyes turned from the manager to the lethal weapons over the chimney, then to the safe, then to the bank, and Mr. Thickens’s back.
- Having the appearance of being dishonest, criminal, or unreliable. He was a shifty character in a seedy bar, and I checked my wallet was still there after talking to him.
- Resourceful; full of, or ready with, shifts or expedients. Shifty and thrifty as old Greek or modern Scot, there were few things he could not invent, and perhaps nothing he could not endure.
Translations
Every language
adj Subject to frequent changes in direction
| Italiano | sfuggevole, volubile, mutevole |
|---|---|
| Русский | изменчивый izménčivyj, переменчивый pereménčivyj |
Talk about this word "shifty." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/shifty. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. shifty. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/shifty "shifty." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/shifty.Cite this
@misc{shifty_2026,
title = {shifty},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/shifty},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
