Of words, etc.: Full of duplicity or wile; subtle; disingenuous. Obsolete.

Of an action, practice, etc.: dishonest, unfair; not straightforward, underhand; murky, shady, dubious. Occasionally also of a person. Now rare…

Of actions, etc.: Characterized by shiftiness, deceitfulness, or want of sincerity.

Of action, conduct, speech: Evasive, shifty.

= evasive, adj.

Of actions or utterances: Tending to evasion; containing or characterized by evasion. Const. of. Esp. in (to take) evasive action: of a pilot, (to…

Of a person's attributes, actions, etc. Also in combinations, as shifty-eyed adj.