Synonyms for fishy
- adjective
Most common
questionable shady dubious iffy fishlike fishly suspicious improbable
Definitions
- adj. 1
Of, from, or similar to fish.
- adj. 2
Suspicious; inspiring doubt.
I don't trust him; his claims seem fishy to me.
- adj. 3
Of a drag queen or a trans woman: appearing very feminine and resembling a cisgender woman.
Example sentences
- questionable There are many questionable points in this ledger.
- shady You try to find something shady in whatever I say.
- dubious He also brought out one more dubious conclusion.
- iffy That seems iffy. That doesn’t seem aboveboard.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| fishy | rising | |
| questionable | falling | |
| shady | rising | |
| dubious | steady | |
| iffy | rising | |
| fishlike | steady |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 4 letters
- iffy2
- 5 letters
- funny2, shady2, dodgy
- 6 letters
- fishly, fishen
- 7 letters
- suspect2, dubious3, piscine
- 8 letters
- doubtful2, fishlike, ichthyic
- 9 letters
- equivocal4
- 10 letters
- suspicious3, improbable4
- 12 letters
- questionable4
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (iffy2 = 2 syllables).
In other languages
- Français
- suspect