Dodgy

//ˈdɒd͡ʒ.i// adj, slang

adj, slang ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Evasive and shifty. Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, colloquial

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

  2. 2
    Unsound and unreliable. Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, colloquial

    "Never listen to dodgy advice."

  3. 3
    Dishonest. colloquial

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

  4. 4
    Risky. colloquial

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

  5. 5
    Deviant. colloquial

    "He's a dodgy Peeping Tom."

Show 1 more definition
  1. 6
    Uncomfortable and weird. colloquial

    "The situation was right dodgy."

Adjective
  1. 1
    marked by skill in deception wordnet
  2. 2
    of uncertain outcome; especially fraught with risk wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
iffybookychancefulchancefulchancychancy

Example

More examples

"Then what is this, I wonder? If it isn't dodgy door-to-door sales, then could it be a new kind of pickup technique for the ladies?"

Etymology

From dodge (verb) + -y. First used in mid-19th century England.

Related phrases

dodgy box

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.