fishier; fishiest
1
: of or resembling fish especially in taste or odor
2
: creating doubt or suspicion : questionable
Synonyms
Examples of fishy in a Sentence
There's something fishy about that guy.
something's fishy about the way he's acting
Recent Examples on the Web
Others have described the smell as not just fishy but more like rotting fish, as well as urine and baby poop.
—
Mike Snider, USA TODAY, 23 Mar. 2024
That word — rig — suggesting there was something illicit, fishy or not entirely kosher about this week’s California primary, wasn’t just groundless and self-serving.
—Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 7 Mar. 2024
Fat from bears that eat a lot of dead salmon is said to taste fishy.
—Matthew Every, Field & Stream, 6 Mar. 2024
In a behind-the-scenes video, the teeth are labelled ‘baleen’, as in baleen whales, real-life marine mammals that have tough but flexible keratin hairs inside their mouths that filter their tiny fishy prey from the inflow of seawater.
—Popular Science, 6 Mar. 2024
In a video, the otters could be seen sitting down to a festive meal curated by their caretakers, where classic Thanksgiving food items were replaced with fishier options that were safe for the animals to consume.
—Nicholas Rice, Peoplemag, 11 Feb. 2024
The key to cracking this fishy enigma was a nearly complete Alienacanthus skull measuring more than two and a half feet that originated in Morocco and is currently in the collection of the University of Zurich’s Palaeontological Institute.
—Jack Tamisiea, New York Times, 30 Jan. 2024
Other characters soon enter the picture, including Jim Doty, Ryan Avis and Tony Kava, a trio of Iowa law enforcers who smell something fishy and start doing the legwork (or, in the case of Kava, an eccentric hacker, the computer work) to prove their hunches.
—Chris Vognar, Rolling Stone, 9 Feb. 2024
There’s something fishy about this black-and-white cookie.
—Florence Fabricant, New York Times, 26 Dec. 2023
Mike Snider, USA TODAY, 23 Mar. 2024
That word — rig — suggesting there was something illicit, fishy or not entirely kosher about this week’s California primary, wasn’t just groundless and self-serving.
—Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 7 Mar. 2024
Fat from bears that eat a lot of dead salmon is said to taste fishy.
—Matthew Every, Field & Stream, 6 Mar. 2024
In a behind-the-scenes video, the teeth are labelled ‘baleen’, as in baleen whales, real-life marine mammals that have tough but flexible keratin hairs inside their mouths that filter their tiny fishy prey from the inflow of seawater.
—Popular Science, 6 Mar. 2024
In a video, the otters could be seen sitting down to a festive meal curated by their caretakers, where classic Thanksgiving food items were replaced with fishier options that were safe for the animals to consume.
—Nicholas Rice, Peoplemag, 11 Feb. 2024
The key to cracking this fishy enigma was a nearly complete Alienacanthus skull measuring more than two and a half feet that originated in Morocco and is currently in the collection of the University of Zurich’s Palaeontological Institute.
—Jack Tamisiea, New York Times, 30 Jan. 2024
Other characters soon enter the picture, including Jim Doty, Ryan Avis and Tony Kava, a trio of Iowa law enforcers who smell something fishy and start doing the legwork (or, in the case of Kava, an eccentric hacker, the computer work) to prove their hunches.
—Chris Vognar, Rolling Stone, 9 Feb. 2024
There’s something fishy about this black-and-white cookie.
—Florence Fabricant, New York Times, 26 Dec. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'fishy.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near fishy
Cite this Entry
“Fishy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fishy. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
fishy
adjective
fishier; fishiest
1
: of, relating to, or resembling fish
a fishy odor
2
: arousing doubt or suspicion : questionable
the story sounds fishy to me
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