fishy
adjective
Simple meaning
Suspicious; inspiring doubt.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
fisheeSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈfɪʃi
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
Of, from, or similar to fish.
figurative
Suspicious; inspiring doubt.
LGBTQ slang
Of a drag queen or a trans woman: appearing very feminine and resembling a cisgender woman.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Primarily written
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Word Aura is being prepared for this meaning.
More ways to use fishy
- “The soup had a fishy smell.”adjective
Share your sentence
Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
Someone whose occupation is catching fish.
Use This Word
See how this word sounds in a real sentence.
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Knowing “fishy” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.
Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.