Adjacent Words

Shady definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SHA'DY, a. [from shade.]
1. Abounding with shade or shades; overspread with shade.
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 the summer and warm for the winter. Bacon.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: (of businesses and businessmen) unscrupulous; "a shady operation" [syn: fly-by-night, shady]
2: of questionable taste or morality; "a louche nightclub"; "a louche painting" [syn: louche, shady]
3: not as expected; "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" [syn: fishy, funny, shady, suspect, suspicious]
4: filled with shade; "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" [syn: shady, shadowed, shadowy, umbrageous]

Merriam Webster's

adjective (shadier; -est) Date: 1579 1. producing or affording shade 2. sheltered from the sun's rays 3. a. of questionable merit ; uncertain, unreliable b. disreputable • shadily adverb • shadiness noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. (shadier, shadiest) 1 giving shade. 2 situated in shade. 3 (of a person or behaviour) disreputable; of doubtful honesty. Derivatives: shadily adv. shadiness n.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Shady Shad"y, a. [Compar. Shadier; superl. Shadiest.] 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. On the shady side of, on the thither side of; as, on the shady side of fifty; that is, more than fifty. [Colloq.] To keep shady, to stay in concealment; also, to be reticent. [Slang]

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(shadier, shadiest) 1. You can describe a place as shady when you like the fact that it is sheltered from bright sunlight, for example by trees or buildings. After flowering, place the pot in a shady spot in the garden... ADJ 2. Shady trees provide a lot of shade. Clara had been reading in a lounge chair under a shady tree. ADJ: usu ADJ n 3. You can describe activities as shady when you think that they might be dishonest or illegal. You can also use shady to describe people who are involved in such activities. The company was notorious for shady deals... ADJ: usu ADJ n [disapproval]

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. Shadowy, umbrageous.

Moby Thesaurus

amoral, bent, blue, bosky, broad, clouded, conscienceless, corrupt, corrupted, criminal, crooked, curtained, dark, darkling, derogatory, devious, discreditable, disgraceful, dishonest, dishonorable, disreputable, doubtful, dubious, dusky, equivocal, evasive, felonious, fishy, fraudulent, ignoble, ignominious, ill-got, ill-gotten, immoral, indecisive, indefinite, indirect, indistinct, infamous, inglorious, insidious, not kosher, notorious, obumbrate, obumbrated, off-color, overshaded, overshadowed, penumbral, purple, questionable, racy, rotten, salty, screened, seamy, shabby, shaded, shadow, shadowy, shameful, shameless, sheltered, shifty, shoddy, sinister, slippery, sordid, spicy, suggestive, suspect, suspicious, tricky, umbral, uncertain, unconscienced, unconscientious, unconscionable, undecided, underhand, underhanded, unethical, unpraiseworthy, unprincipled, unreliable, unrespectable, unsavory, unscrupulous, unstraightforward, veiled, wicked, without remorse, without shame