shady Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. adjective satellite (of businesses and businessmen) unscrupulous
    fly-by-night.
    • a shady operation
  2. adjective satellite of questionable taste or morality
    louche.
    • a louche nightclub
    • a louche painting
  3. adjective satellite not as expected
    funny; suspicious; suspect; fishy.
    • there was something fishy about the accident
    • up to some funny business
    • some definitely queer goings-on
    • a shady deal
    • her motives were suspect
    • suspicious behavior
  4. adjective satellite filled with shade
    umbrageous; shadowy; shadowed.
    • the shady side of the street
    • the surface of the pond is dark and shadowed
    • we sat on rocks in a shadowy cove
    • cool umbrageous woodlands

WordNet

Shad"y adjective
Wordforms
comparative Shadier ; superlative Shadiest
Definitions
  1. Abounding in shade or shades; overspread with shade; causing shade.
    The shady trees cover him with their shadow. Job. xl. 22.
    And Amaryllis fills the shady groves. Dryden.
  2. Sheltered from the glare of light or sultry heat.
    Cast it also that you may have rooms shady for summer and warm for winter. Bacon.
  3. Of or pertaining to shade or darkness; hence, unfit to be seen or known; equivocal; dubious or corrupt. Colloq. "A shady business." London Sat. Rev.
    Shady characters, disreputable, criminal. London Spectator.

Webster 1913