shiesty

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English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Probably from shyst(er) +‎ -y. Green's Dictionary of Slang suggests that the word is a blend of shit +‎ feisty or shicer (a worthless person) +‎ feisty.[1] The noun sense is a reference to the rapper Pooh Shiesty, known for wearing ski masks on stage.[2]

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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shiesty (comparative shiestier or more shiesty, superlative shiestiest or most shiesty)

  1. (US, slang) Shifty, untrustworthy, unscrupulous.
    • 1998, “Moment of Truth”, in Moment of Truth, performed by Gang Starr:
      The same sheisty cats that you hang with and do your thang with / Could set you up and wet you up nigga, peep the language
    • 2006, Noire [pseudonym], Thug-A-Licious: An Urban Erotic Tale, New York, N.Y.: One World, Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 301:
      Muddah had been smart to warn me to flip my bank. My baby had never trusted his ass. I knew she would die before she let this shiesty niggah get his grimy fingers on a single dime of my money.

Noun

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shiesty (plural shiesties)

  1. (African-American Vernacular, slang) A black ski mask or balaclava.
    • 2022 January 7, Sha Be Allah, “Pooh Shiesty Incites Ski Mask Trend, Prompts "Shiesty Mask" Ban”, in The Source[2], archived from the original on 2023-08-01:
      In Shiesty's hometown of Memphis, the ski masks are nicknamed "Shiestys" and one store has gone as far as banning the wearing of them inside of their store. ¶ "Please remove all Shiesty's[sic] before entering," reads the sign on the door of the establishment.
    • 2023 June 1, Ernest Owens, “Banning "Shiesty" Ski Masks on SEPTA Won't Reduce Crime”, in Philadelphia[3], archived from the original on 2023-08-01:
      Similar rhetoric made its way into our mayoral race as candidates and community members also began to conflate masks and violent crime. Some public-policy wonks in the region have argued that City Council should ban the shiesty because "we see young men committing violent crimes while wearing these masks."
    • 2023 July 6, Jenice Armstrong, quoting David Fisher, “SEPTA and stores are banning ski masks. But will that have any affect on crime?”, in The Philadelphia Inquirer[4], Philadelphia, P.A.: The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-07-08:
      Clearly, there is a lot of support for a ski mask ban. "If I see a guy with a Shiesty, I assume he's got a gun," David Fisher, president of the National Black Police Association, Greater Philadelphia chapter, an advocacy organization for Black officers, told me recently.

Usage notes

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  • Both the spellings shiesty and sheisty are roughly equally popular, and there is no standardized spelling.[3]

References

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  1. ^ sheisty adj.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present
  2. ^ Mark Liberman (2023 June 4) “The rise (and fall?) of shiesties”, in Language Log[1], archived from the original on 2023-06-04
  3. ^ shiesty,sheisty at the Google Books Ngram Viewer.

Anagrams

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