English Dictionary

SHIFTINESS

Pronunciation (US): Play  (GB): Play

 Dictionary entry overview: What does shiftiness mean? 

SHIFTINESS (noun)
  The noun SHIFTINESS has 2 senses:

1. the quality of being a slippery rascalplay

2. the quality of being changeable in directionplay

  Familiarity information: SHIFTINESS used as a noun is rare.


 Dictionary entry details 


SHIFTINESS (noun)


Sense 1

Meaning:

The quality of being a slippery rascal

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

rascality; shiftiness; slipperiness; trickiness

Hypernyms ("shiftiness" is a kind of...):

dishonesty (the quality of being dishonest)

Derivation:

shifty (characterized by insincerity or deceit; evasive)


Sense 2

Meaning:

The quality of being changeable in direction

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Context example:

the shiftiness of the wind caused the boat to veer unpredictably

Hypernyms ("shiftiness" is a kind of...):

changeability; changeableness (the quality of being changeable; having a marked tendency to change)

Derivation:

shifty (changing position or direction)


 Context examples 


But there was no shyness or shiftiness about Berks’s fighting.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)



 Learn English with... Proverbs 
"Where one door shuts, another opens." (English proverb)

"We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love... and then we return home." (Aboriginal Australian proverbs)

"Never give advice in a crowd." (Arabic proverb)

"Better safe than sorry." (Croatian proverb)



ALSO IN ENGLISH DICTIONARY:


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