1560s, "able to manage for oneself, fertile in expedients," from shift (n.1) in secondary sense of "dodge, trick, artifice" + -y (2). Meaning "habitually using dishonest methods, characterized by trickery" first recorded 1837. In a sense "prone to shifting," of the wind, used from 1884. Related: Shiftily; shiftiness.
权威例句
1. He had a shifty face and previous convictions.
他看起来贼眉鼠眼,而且有犯罪前科。
2. I didn't trust his shifty expression.
他贼眉鼠眼,我不信任他.
3. What a shifty arguer he is, refusing ever to give a straight answer.
他真是个狡诈的辩论家,总是拒绝给出直截了当的回答。
4. Don't begin talking in that stiff and shifty sort of way.
别一张嘴就那么刻薄挖苦.
5. She smiled, looking dreamily out on the shifty landscape.