MEANING
1. Seeming evasive or dishonest, often through restless looks or behavior.
2. Changing position or direction in an unsettled or unpredictable way.
Use it for
describing someone who appears untrustworthy; showing a gaze that avoids scrutiny; creating suspicion without establishing guilt; portraying evasive behavior during questioningDistinguishes outward signs that suggest evasiveness from confirmed dishonesty; also describes unsettled physical direction. Writing functions: Characterization / Distrust.
Words that belong together
- a shifty look
- shifty eyes
- a shifty character
On the page
His shifty glance toward the locked drawer made her pause.
The witness seemed shifty, but nervousness alone was no proof of a lie.
Shifty winds kept the sail trembling between one course and the next.
All afternoon, a shifty breeze carried the smoke back toward the house.
Nearby words
Word forms
- Base
- shifty
Usage notes
Adjective. Natural comparison: shiftier, shiftiest. The personal-description sense is disapproving; the physical sense is less common. Register: neutral. Commonness: moderately common (qualitative editorial estimate, informed by dictionaries/corpus).
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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