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Shifty vs Cagey - What's the difference?

shifty | cagey |

Cagey is a synonym of shifty.



As adjectives the difference between shifty and cagey

is that shifty is having the appearance of someone dishonest, criminal or unreliable; such as someone with shifty eyes while cagey is wary, careful, shrewd.

shifty

English

Adjective

(er)
  • Having the appearance of someone dishonest, criminal or unreliable; such as someone with shifty eyes .
    • He was a shifty character in a seedy bar and I checked my wallet was still there after talking to him.
  • Subject to frequent changes in direction.
  • * 1971 , Henry Handel Richardson, Ultima Thule (page 121)
    • Off he raced, shuffling his bare feet through the hot, dry, shifty sand. But it was no good: she didn't care.
  • Full of, or ready with, shifts or expedients.
    • (Wright)
  • * Charles Kingsley
    • Shifty and thrifty as old Greek or modern Scot, there were few things he could not invent, and perhaps nothing he could not endure.

    cagey

    English

    Alternative forms

    * cagy

    Adjective

    (er)
  • wary, careful, shrewd
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2011 , date=February 6 , author=Alistair Magowan , title=West Ham 0 - 1 Birmingham , work=BBC citation , page= , passage=But with both sides in the Premier League's bottom three before the game began, the three points at stake made for a cagey match.}}
  • uncommunicative; unwilling or hesitant to give information.

    • Derived terms

    * cagily * caginess