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fly by night
| Main Entry: | |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | unreliable and shady |
| Synonyms: | brief, cowboy, disreputable, dubious, ephemeral, evanescent, fleeting, here-today-gone-tomorrow, impermanent, irresponsible, momentary, not to be relied upon, not to be trusted, passing, questionable, shady, shifty, short-lived, slimy*, slippery*, temporary, treacherous, trustless, undependable, unprofessional, unreliable, unsure, untrustworthy |
| Antonyms: | dependable, reliable, reputable, responsible, trustworthy |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | dubious |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | doubtful |
| Synonyms: | arguable, chancy, debatable, diffident, disputable, dubitable, equivocal, far-fetched, fishy, fly-by-night, hesitant, iffy, improbable, indecisive, moot, mootable, open, perplexed, problematic, questionable, reluctant, shady, skeptical, suspect, suspicious, touch and go, trustless, unassured, uncertain, unclear, unconvinced, undecided, undependable, unlikely, unreliable, unsure, untrustworthy, untrusty, wavering |
| Notes: | a person is capable of doubting, whereas a thing is dubitable; dubious, unlike doubtful, carries the connotation of suspicion |
| Antonyms: | certain, definite, doubtless, positive, reliable, sure, trustworthy, trusty, undoubtful |
| Main Entry: | fugitive |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | person escaping from law or other pursuer |
| Synonyms: | bolter, derelict, deserter, displaced person, dodger, escapee, escaper, evacuee, exile, fly-by-night, hermit, hunted person, outcast, outlaw, recluse, refugee, runagate, runaway, stray, transient, truant, vagabond, waif, walkout, émigré |
| Main Entry: | improvised |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | made-up |
| Synonyms: | Band-Aid, ad-lib, autoschediastic, extemporaneous, extempore, extemporized, fly-by-night, hit-or-miss, impromptu, improviso, makeshift, offhand, spontaneous, spur-of-the-moment, unprepared, unrehearsed, unstudied |
| Antonyms: | designed, planned, premediated, rehearsed |
| Main Entry: | insubstantial |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | weak, imaginary |
| Synonyms: | aerial, airy, chimerical, decrepit, ephemeral, false, fanciful, feeble, flimsy, fly-by-night, fragile, frail, idle, illusory, immaterial, imponderable, incorporeal, infirm, intangible, metaphysical, petty, poor, puny, slender, slight, tenuous, thin, too little too late, unreal, unsound, unsubstantial |
| Antonyms: | real, strong, substantial |
| Main Entry: | irresponsible |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | careless, reckless |
| Synonyms: | capricious, carefree, devil-may-care, feckless, fickle, flighty, fly-by-night, giddy, harebrained, ill-considered, immature, immoral, incautious, lax, loose*, no-account, rash, scatterbrained, shiftless, thoughtless, unaccountable, unanswerable, uncareful, undependable, unpredictable, unreliable, unstable, untrustworthy, wild |
| Antonyms: | accountable, careful, liable, reliable, responsible, trustworthy |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | shifty |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | deceitful, untrustworthy |
| Synonyms: | cagey, collusive, conniving, contriving, crafty, crooked, cunning, devious, dishonest, dodging, duplicitous, elusive, equivocating, evasive, fly-by-night, foxy, fraudulent, furtive, insidious, lying, mendacious, prevaricative, prevaricatory, roguish, scheming, shady, shrewd, shuffling, slick, slimy*, slippery, sly, sneaky, treacherous, tricky, underhand, unhonest, unprincipled, untruthful, wily |
| Antonyms: | forthright, frank, honest, trustworthy |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | short-lived |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | not around for long |
| Synonyms: | brief, deciduous, ephemeral, evanescent, fleeting, fly-by-night, fugacious, fugitive, gone in a heartbeat, impermanent, momentary, of short duration, over in a heartbeat, passing, quick, short, short-haul, short-run, short-term, temporary, transient, transitory |
| Antonyms: | enduring, ethereal, lasting, lengthy, long-lived, permanent |
| Main Entry: | slippery |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | uncertain, unreliable |
| Synonyms: | cagey, changeable, crafty, cunning, devious, dishonest, duplicitous, elusive, evasive, false, fly-by-night, foxy, inconstant, insecure, mutable, shifty, slick, slithery, smooth, sneaky, treacherous, tricky, two-faced, unpredictable, unsafe, unstable, unsteady, untrustworthy, variable |
| Antonyms: | certain, definite, reliable, stable |
Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition
Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2013 Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
