fishy

«fishy» in Mova's school dictionary: smelling or tasting of fish — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

adjective (fishy, fishier, fishiest)

meaning for a pupil

1) Fishy means smelling or tasting of fish. tree →

2) (informal) Fishy means suspicious, as if something is wrong or someone is not telling the truth. tree →

3) Fishy can also mean like a fish or full of fish. tree →

sense in the lessons

In cooking, a fishy smell can mean fish is not fresh. In stories, especially mysteries, «something fishy is going on» tells the reader to be suspicious. In safety talk, a «fishy» online message may be a scam. Common phrases: «something fishy», «smell fishy», «a bit fishy», «fishy business», «fishy smell».

examples

• The kitchen had a strong fishy smell after tea. tree →
• There's something fishy about that email asking for Mum's password. tree →
• His excuse sounded a bit fishy to the teacher. tree →
• The cat loved the fishy biscuits. tree →
• The detective thought the butler's story was fishy. tree →
• My hands smelled fishy after the beach. tree →
• This rock pool is very fishy — look at all those little fish! tree →

note

Comparative: fishier, fishiest. The «suspicious» meaning is informal and very common. A «fishy» message online is a warning sign — do not click links or share passwords; tell an adult.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «fishy» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.