1
as in shaded
protected from the sun's rays
a lovely shady spot in the park that was pleasantly cool
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in deceptive
given to or marked by cheating and deception
a shady business deal
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in questionable
giving good reason for being doubted, questioned, or challenged
cited some shady statistics to back up his argument
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4
as in shifty
given to acting in secret and to concealing one's intentions
shady characters hanging out in the park after nightfall
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
5
as in notorious
not respectable
a courtesan who lived on the shady fringe of society
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of shady
Okay, not quite, but Entertainment Weekly's full, exclusive series recap with the All Stars 10 cast of queens (above) is still criminally good, as the returning contestants react to the show's wildest, shadiest, most harrowing developments across the last 16 years.
—
EW.com, 13 May 2025
Imagine committing elaborate crimes to garner viral influencer attention or making connections with shady associates via the dark web.
—Jordan Minor, PC Magazine, 6 May 2025
Good for a cool, shady location, the blooms are pale blue with purple shading nodding bells, 2.5 to 3 inches in diameter, and grows up to 15 feet tall.
—Mary Marlowe Leverette, Southern Living, 3 May 2025
After the events of the April 24 episode aired, Brunette escalated the drama with a shady Instagram Reel.
—Bethy Squires, Vulture, 2 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for shady
EW.com, 13 May 2025
Imagine committing elaborate crimes to garner viral influencer attention or making connections with shady associates via the dark web.
—Jordan Minor, PC Magazine, 6 May 2025
Good for a cool, shady location, the blooms are pale blue with purple shading nodding bells, 2.5 to 3 inches in diameter, and grows up to 15 feet tall.
—Mary Marlowe Leverette, Southern Living, 3 May 2025
After the events of the April 24 episode aired, Brunette escalated the drama with a shady Instagram Reel.
—Bethy Squires, Vulture, 2 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for shady
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shady
Adjective
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During the defense’s cross-examination of Kid Cudi, lawyers representing Combs portrayed Ventura as deceptive of both men.—
Conor Murray,
Forbes.com,
22 May 2025
-
California’s attorney general, Rob Bonta, filed a suit against ExxonMobil last year that, in part, accuses the oil giant of deceptive claims regarding chemical recycling, which the company disputes.—
Susanne Rust,
Los Angeles Times,
22 May 2025
Adjective
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Clark took a series of questionable fouls from Reese's Sky throughout the 2024 season, including one from Reese June 16.—
Jackson Thompson,
FOXNews.com,
17 May 2025
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The Trump Administration has unleashed a torrent of unconstitutional executive orders and other questionable legal actions; with many of them, its goal seems less to win in the end than to inflict as much damage as possible along the way.—
Ruth Marcus,
New Yorker,
17 May 2025
Adjective
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By associating vibes with AI, doing so is an outrageous and shifty means of subliminally implying that AI is mysterious, perhaps bordering on possessing sentience.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
5 May 2025
-
And the staff lined up just to say goodbye / Tiny tear in his shifty little eye.—
George Varga,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
18 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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In July 2022, more than 50 Ukrainian prisoners of war were killed in an explosion at the notorious camp at Olenivka, adding a desperate sense of urgency to the Ukrainian efforts to bring the rest of them home.—
Simon Shuster,
Time,
16 May 2025
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The Lorraine Motel, before and after The 1968 assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. made the Lorraine Motel in Memphis globally notorious.—
Christopher Reynolds,
Los Angeles Times,
15 May 2025
Adjective
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The Oldest House is the FBC’s headquarters, and serves as the central location of 2019’s Control — although the shadowy org also plays a smaller tangential role in the Alan Wake series.—
Jason Fanelli,
Rolling Stone,
14 May 2025
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Things look bleak — until a shadowy character with a white beard comes to break him out of the jailhouse, killing whoever gets in the way.—
Jocelyn Noveck,
Boston Herald,
9 May 2025
Adjective
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In 2024, Nicolás Maduro won his reelection in a race contested as fraudulent by the opposition.—
Sergio Martínez-Beltrán,
NPR,
19 May 2025
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Real examples: Six people were charged with attempting to steal $80 million through fraudulent checks tied to COVID-19 relief funds.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
18 May 2025
Adjective
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Their dubious ‘reward’ for topping the league phase table was a matchup with another of the best teams on the continent, Paris Saint-Germain, who had underperformed in the league phase but were an obvious sleeping giant.—
James Nalton,
Forbes.com,
16 May 2025
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After the 2020 election, Fox took her off the air because her promotion of the false contention Dominion voting machines rigged the election against Trump became part of its $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox. Pirro and Martin are not the only dubious department appointees.—
Carl Leubsdorf,
Mercury News,
16 May 2025
Adjective
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With their golden yellow rays surrounding a dark cone, Rudbeckias are quintessential summer blooms.—
Kim Toscano,
Southern Living,
22 May 2025
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Blast off at Baltimore's science fiction convention, see natural beauty envisioned by artists from around the world, take a stroll after dark at the zoo, celebrate Baltimore creatives or go to a legendary concert.—
John Coffren,
Baltimore Sun,
22 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Shady.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shady. Accessed 27 May. 2025.
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