dodgy

comparative dodgier · superlative dodgiest

1. CommonwealthIrelandUKcolloquialEvasive and shifty.

   Asked why, a spokesman gave a dodgy answer about legal ramifications.

2. CommonwealthIrelandUKcolloquialUnsound and unreliable.

   Never listen to dodgy advice.

   1 more example

   The dodgy old machine kept breaking down.

   Synonyms: shaky, flaky

3. colloquialDishonest.

   I am sure you wouldn't want to be seen buying dodgy gear, would you? (stolen goods).

   2 more examples

   The more money the better, because there is always that dodgy politician or corrupt official to bribe.

   No doubt you’re tired of reading about his colourful escapades – about his glamorous home, his allegedly dodgy tenderpreneur deals, his gushing praise of malevolent dictators, or his soundly articulated international economic policy.

   2010 November 10, Pratish Mistry, “Why Julius Malema is important to the ANC”, in NewsTime

4. colloquialRisky.

   This is a slightly dodgy plan, because there is a lot that is being changed for this fix.

   1 more example

   “The market is getting edgier and edgier, and what is accepted in the marketplace gets dodgier and dodgier,” said Martin E. Abrams, the executive director of the Center for Information Policy Leadership at the law firm Hunton & Williams, a research organization financed by companies like Google, Microsoft and Best Buy.

   2007 November 1, Louise Story, “F.T.C. to Review Online Ads and Privacy”, in The New York Times

   Synonyms: chancy, risky

5. colloquialDeviant.

   He's a dodgy Peeping Tom.

6. colloquialUncomfortable and weird.

   The situation was right dodgy.

   2 more examples

   I'm feeling dodgy today, probably got the flu.

   Churchill's own forefathers were among the dodgiest of the lot -- one a spendthrift, another a child molester, a third so reclusive that he went three years without saying a word.

   2002 October 27, Burkhard Bilger, “Fortune Hunters and Gatherers”, in The New York Times