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Sneaky vs Shifty - What's the difference?

sneaky | shifty | Related terms |

As adjectives the difference between sneaky and shifty

is that sneaky is difficult to catch due to constantly outwitting the adversaries while shifty is having the appearance of someone dishonest, criminal or unreliable; such as someone with shifty eyes.

sneaky

English

Adjective

(er)
  • Difficult to catch due to constantly outwitting the adversaries
    • Catching those thieves will be hard, they're so sneaky they keep deluding us
  • dishonest; deceitful

    • Synonyms

    * slippery * evasive, dodgy

    Derived terms

    * sneaky pete * sneaky suspicion * sneaky romainians

    Related terms

    * sneak

    External links

    * *

    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.