Dodgy — Meaning, Definition & Synonyms

Dodgy (adjective) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

1. requiring exceptional skill or caution in performance or handling

   "getting the trade unions to go along with the agreement will be a rather dodgy piece of work"

   similar: catchy, delicate, difficult, hairy, knotty, nasty, prickly, problematic, sensitive, spiny, sticky, thorny, ticklish, touchy, tough, tricksy, tricky
   related: abstract, abstruse, complex, complicated, hard, intricate, involved, recondite, serious, problem, scabrous, stubborn, troublesome, troublous, vexatious, vexing, worrisome, burdensome, demanding, discommoding, exacting, exhausting, importunate, inconvenient, onerous, oppressive, painful, stressful
   near: easy, effortless, manageable, painless, simple, straightforward, uncomplicated, undemanding, unproblematic

2. clever at attaining one's ends by indirect and often deceptive means

   "needed a dodgy barrister to get him acquitted of the charge"

   similar: artful, beguiling, cagey, crafty, cunning, cute, designing, devious, foxy, guileful, scheming, shrewd, slick, sly, subtle, tricky, wily
   related: astute, facile, glib, sharp, crooked, deceitful, deceptive, dishonest, fraudulent, insinuating, knavish, Machiavellian, oblique, serpentine, shady, shifty, slippery, sneaky, treacherous, underhand, underhanded, unscrupulous, backhanded, double-dealing, hypocritical, insincere, left-handed, mealy, mealymouthed, smooth-tongued, two-faced, circuitous, circular, roundabout, clandestine, concealed, covert, furtive, hugger-mugger, secret, stealthy, surreptitious, undercover, calculating, plotting
   opposite: artless, guileless, ingenuous, innocent, undesigning
   near: obvious, open, patent, plain, public, unconcealed, aboveboard, candid, direct, forthright, frank, honest, natural, outspoken, plainspoken, real, simple, sincere, straightforward, unaffected, unpretending, unpretentious, unvarnished, childlike, impressionable, simpleminded, unsophisticated, unworldly, unforced, unstudied, trustful, trusting

3. giving good reason for being doubted, questioned, or challenged

   "the authenticity of the lost Shakespearean sonnet was more than a little dodgy"

   similar: debatable, disputable, doubtable, doubtful, dubious, dubitable, equivocal, fishy, problematic, queer, questionable, shady, shaky, suspect, suspicious
   related: alleged, so-called, supposed, moot, ambiguous, open, unclear, uncertain, undecided, undetermined, far-fetched, flimsy, improbable, unlikely, weak
   opposite: certain, hands-down, incontestable, indisputable, indubitable, questionless, sure, undeniable, undoubted, unproblematic, unquestionable
   near: decisive, definitive, clear, obvious, open-and-shut, positive