fly-by-night
/ˈflʌɪbʌɪnʌɪt
/adjective [attributive]
Unreliable or untrustworthy, especially in business or financial matters: cheap suits made by fly-by-night operators...
- ‘We must crack down on fly-by-night operators who set up premium-rate line services, only to disappear days later before the regulator has a chance to investigate complaints,’ he said.
- Excessive controls and interference in private education institutions could encourage fly-by-night operators.
- There are 1,200 such homes in the country but there are also fly-by-night operators.
Synonyms
unreliable, undependable, irresponsible, untrustworthy;
dishonest, deceitful, not to be trusted, dubious, double-dealing, treacherous, traitorous, two-faced, unfaithful, duplicitous, dishonourable, unprincipled, unscrupulous, corrupt, underhand
informal iffy, shady, shifty, slippery, crooked
British informal dodgy, bent
Australian/New Zealand informal shonky
noun
(also fly-by-nighter) An unreliable or untrustworthy person.If we get knocked it will be by fly-by-nights, not by those who have supported us over all these years....
- The company is an internet based recruitment service, one of the many but long established and from what I knew of them before today quite a good one - definitely not fly-by-nights.
- But these are just episodes, mere fly-by-nights.