Dodgy is informal British for suspicious, risky or unreliable. A dodgy deal is probably dishonest, a dodgy chair might collapse, dodgy weather could turn bad at any moment. What all the uses share: you can't rely on it.
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a dodgy + deal / claim / chair; look / seem / be dodgy
- The offer looked dodgy because the seller refused to explain the conditions.
- Do not sit on that chair; one of its legs is dodgy.
- The weather can be a bit dodgy in early spring.
What changed
First versionThe offer looks dodgily to me.
RevisionThe offer looks dodgy to me.
We often describe impressions with adverbs, so looks dodgily can seem right. But after looks you describe the thing itself, so you need an adjective: looks dodgy. To soften it, say a bit dodgy.
Shady means dishonest, almost always about people and deals. Dodgy is wider: dishonest things and unreliable objects. In writing: suspicious or unreliable.
Your turn
Choose the adjective after looks: That old ladder looks ___.
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dodgy — Here looks links the ladder with a quality, so it needs the adjective dodgy. Dodgily doesn't describe what the ladder is like.
Describe an unreliable object or a suspicious offer and say what made you doubt it.
The lock looks dodgy because the key turns without moving the bolt.
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