dodgy

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> Synonyms catchy, delicate, difficult, tricky [chiefly British], hairy, knotty, nasty, prickly, problematic (also problematical), sensitive, spiny, sticky, thorny, ticklish, touchy, tough, tricksyRelated Words 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, stressfulNear Antonyms 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 acquited of the charge> Synonyms beguiling, cagey (also cagy), crafty, cunning, cute, designing, devious, artful [chiefly British], foxy, guileful, scheming, shrewd, slick, sly, subtle, tricky, wilyRelated Words 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, plottingNear Antonyms 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, trustingAntonyms artless, guileless, ingenuous, innocent, undesigning

3 giving good reason for being doubted, questioned, or challenged <the authenticity of the “lost” Shakespearean sonnet was more than a little dodgy> Synonyms debatable, disputable, doubtful [chiefly British], doubtable, dubious, dubitable, equivocal, fishy, problematic (also problematical), queer, questionable, shady, shaky, suspect, suspiciousRelated Words alleged, so-called, supposed; moot; ambiguous, open, unclear; uncertain, undecided, undetermined; far-fetched, flimsy, improbable, unlikely, weakNear Antonyms decisive, definitive; clear, obvious, open-and-shut, positiveAntonyms certain, hands-down, incontestable, indisputable, indubitable, questionless, sure, undeniable, undoubted, unproblematic, unquestionable