shifty

Etymology

It is formed from English shift + -y.^[2][3][4] Etymonline takes the base in its sense "dodge, trick, artifice",^[4] and the Shorter Oxford groups the word with shiftless.^[5] The noun shift, recorded from about 1300, comes from the verb, which is from Middle English shiften, from Old English sciftan (“to arrange, divide, allot”),^[4] from Proto-Germanic *skiftijaną,^[1] also the source of Old Norse skipta (“to divide, change”), Dutch schiften (“to divide”) and German schichten (“to classify”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Shrewd, ingenious, able to manage for oneself: 1570, in Levens's Manipulus Vocabulorum.^[2][6] Etymonline dates the word to the 1560s,^[4] and Dictionary.com to 1560–70.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The first meaning was a compliment, resting on shift as an expedient or means to an end.^[4][7] Green's Dictionary of Slang notes that this 16th- to 19th-century sense has been replaced in standard English by the negative one,^[7] and the OED now calls it rare, in later use chiefly from the southern and south Midland United States.^[2] In the dialects of Scotland, Cumberland, Westmorland, Yorkshire and Lincolnshire it was recorded around 1900 for clever and energetic: "He's a shifty fendy chap".^[8] A second line comes from the idea of shifting itself: of people and their opinions, changeable (1643);^[2] of physical movement, constantly moving or quick (1790), now chiefly American;^[2] and of the wind, variable (1845).^[2] In Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire and Northamptonshire shifty meant restless, especially of a sick person, and in Oxfordshire soil could be shifty, loose and sandy, while in Surrey the word meant untidy or helpless.^[8] The sense that is now the main one, evasive and not to be trusted, appeared in the 19th century, first of a person's manner and eyes (1821), then of the person (1829, in Brockett's glossary of North Country words).^[2] In US Black slang of about 2000 it was recorded with a good sense again, cool under pressure.^[7]

Timeline

• 1570 – shrewd, ingenious, resourceful.^[2][6] Etymonline dates it to the 1560s.^[4]
• 1585 – of a scheme, effective (obsolete).^[2]
• 1643 – of people and opinions, changeable, inconstant.^[2]
• 1790 – constantly moving; also quick and agile.^[2]
• 1821 – of manner or eyes, furtive, not straightforward.^[2]
• 1829 – of a person, deceitful or evasive.^[2] Etymonline has the sense by 1837.^[4]
• 1845 – of the wind or weather, variable.^[2] Etymonline has the sense by 1884.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Given to deception or evasion; not to be trusted: Nobody believed the shifty dealer's account of the car.^[9][6][2]
2. Suggesting dishonesty; furtive: He gave her a shifty glance and left the room.^[9][6][2]
3. Quick in movement and hard to catch, especially in sport: a shifty winger.^[6][2]
4. Of the wind or weather, variable.^[2][4]
5. (rare) Of people or opinions, changeable, inconstant.^[2]
6. (rare) Full of expedients; resourceful.^[9][6][2]

Word family

• shiftily
• shiftiness
• unshifty

Related words

• shift
• shiftless
• makeshift

Usage notes

Australian slang has a noun shifty, an idler or layabout, recorded from 1986.^[7] Green's Dictionary of Slang derives it from shift work.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d e Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
8. ^ a b Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
9. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins