FISHY (fishier, fishiest)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: fishier    , fishiest   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does fishy mean? 

• FISHY (adjective)
  The adjective FISHY has 2 senses:

1. of or relating to or resembling fish

2. not as expected

  Familiarity information: FISHY used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FISHY (adjective)

Comparative: fishier   
Superlative: fishiest   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of or relating to or resembling fish

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Context example:

the soup had a fishy smell

Pertainym:

fish (any of various mostly cold-blooded aquatic vertebrates usually having scales and breathing through gills)

Derivation:

fish (any of various mostly cold-blooded aquatic vertebrates usually having scales and breathing through gills)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Not as expected

Synonyms:

fishy; funny; shady; suspect; suspicious

Context example:

suspicious behavior

Similar:

questionable (subject to question)

Domain usage:

colloquialism (a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech)

 Context examples 

I never seen a pack o' fools look fishier; and you may lay to that, if I tells you that looked the fishiest.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

All this time he was squeezing my hand with his damp fishy fingers, while I made every effort I decently could to get it away.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Ham, who had been giving me my first lesson in all-fours, was trying to recollect a scheme of telling fortunes with the dirty cards, and was printing off fishy impressions of his thumb on all the cards he turned.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)