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# fishy

adjective (fishy, fishier, fishiest)

«fishy» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. Fishy means smelling or tasting of fish. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fishy/#m1)
2. (informal) Fishy means suspicious, as if something is wrong or someone is not telling the truth. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fishy/#m2)
3. Fishy can also mean like a fish or full of fish. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fishy/#m3)

### In the lessons

In cooking, a fishy smell can mean fish is not fresh. In stories, especially mysteries, «something fishy is going on» tells the reader to be suspicious. In safety talk, a «fishy» online message may be a scam. Common phrases: «something fishy», «smell fishy», «a bit fishy», «fishy business», «fishy smell».

### Examples

- The kitchen had a strong fishy smell after tea. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fishy/#x1)
- There's something fishy about that email asking for Mum's password. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fishy/#x2)
- His excuse sounded a bit fishy to the teacher. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fishy/#x3)
- The cat loved the fishy biscuits. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fishy/#x4)
- The detective thought the butler's story was fishy. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fishy/#x5)
- My hands smelled fishy after the beach. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fishy/#x6)
- This rock pool is very fishy — look at all those little fish! [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fishy/#x7)

### Note

Comparative: fishier, fishiest. The «suspicious» meaning is informal and very common. A «fishy» message online is a warning sign — do not click links or share passwords; tell an adult.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «fishy» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fishy/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«fishy» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/fishy.html) on Mova free.