US /ˈfɪʃi/ UK /ˈfɪʃi/
adj

Meanings

  1. 1
    adj

    arousing suspicion; of doubtful character

    Something about the deal seemed fishy.

Thesaurus

Synonyms
1 adj · arousing suspicion; of... suspiciousdubiousquestionabledoubtfulshadysuspect
Word family
Forms fishily
Derived forms fishilyfishiness
Related forms fish

Etymology

From fish + -y; the 'suspicious' sense is a nineteenth-century figurative extension, possibly from the idea of something that 'smells fishy' or from the wary, slippery nature of fish.

View etymology graph ->

Topics

markdown

Send feedback

Optional — only if you'd like a reply.