1
chiefly British : evasive, tricky
2
chiefly British
a
: not sound, good, or reliable
3
chiefly British : requiring skill or care in handling or coping with
dodginess noun

Examples of dodgy in a Sentence

The car's got a dodgy engine. They got into a dodgy situation.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
On social media, where complaints about dodgy deliveries are a more common occurrence, Singh’s thoughtful act went viral. Hilary Whiteman, CNN Money, 22 Aug. 2025 He’s also involved in some dodgy side hustles, which leads to a lot of peripheral gunplay and tangential, ha-ha–bang-bang set pieces that feel cherry-picked from Coen’s back catalog. David Fear, Rolling Stone, 20 Aug. 2025 But there’s a reason the Golden Knights don’t land in the top five and that’s due to a dodgy draft record without much homegrown talent to show for it. Dom Luszczyszyn, New York Times, 20 Aug. 2025 Pictured below is Mr Bates star Toby Jones as Alan Rusbridger, who was editor of The Guardian when the paper was leading the reporting into dodgy goings-on at the News of the World. Max Goldbart, Deadline, 4 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for dodgy

Word History

First Known Use

1861, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of dodgy was in 1861

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Cite this Entry

“Dodgy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dodgy. Accessed 26 Aug. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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