Definitions
1.AdjectiveSubject to frequent changes in direction.
2.AdjectiveMoving from one object to another; not looking directly and steadily at the person with whom one is speaking.
3.AdjectiveHaving the appearance of being dishonest, criminal, or unreliable."He was a shifty character in a seedy bar, and I checked my wallet was still there after talking to him."
4.AdjectiveResourceful; full of, or ready with, shifts or expedients.
5.Adjective↑ Thomas Wright, Dictionary of Obsolete and Provincial English, London: Henry G. Bohn, Volume 2, p. 848: “Cunning; artful” (Craven [Yorkshire]).