1993 Jeb Stuart & David Touhy, The Fugitive, imdb.com, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106977/quotes
This is hinky, this guy's a college graduate...

And I don't know if that copper reaction you teased me with for H2CO3 would run that direction, would it? Looks hinky.

Given the hinky events of the past twenty-four hours, he had come to suspect that his own unhappy spouse had conspired in the defacing of his prize taxidermy, the trashing of the red BMW, and even the infesting of his luxury sport-utility vehicle with shit-eating insects.

A US customs agent, Diana Dean, questioned him at the border. He was fidgeting, sweaty, and jittery. He avoided eye contact. In Dean's own words, he was acting "hinky." Ressam's car was eventually searched, and he was arrested.

There's something hinky about this whole thing.

I think they get hinky if everything is shaking around and they can't see much.

Lots of folks are hinky about removing ANY "safety" feature from a firearm.

1999 Mar 14: Trn0, Re: HELP w/ taking a knife to another country (TANZANIA), rec.knives, http://groups.google.com/group/rec.knives/msg/4fb8ccf2764ce154?dmode=source&hl=en
If the customs inspector gets hinky about letting them into the country, you can let him keep one as a gift.

2005 Feb 11: tiny dancer, Re: Pregnant Ky. Woman Kills Attacker, alt.true-crime, http://groups.google.com/group/alt.true-crime/msg/33d57888c4b937a7?dmode=source&hl=en
I was feeling a bit hinky about this one too.

1968 Sept 21: Officer Pete Malloy, as written by Jack Webb, intuiting that a citizen’s report of burglars casing the neighborhood is probably legitimate, Adam-12, Season 1, Episode 1 at 9:32, http://www.imdb.com/rg/VIDEO_PLAY/LINK//video/hulu/vi4018208793/
This [call] shouldn’t be hinky – I’ve got a hunch they’re still floating around.

1995 Feb 1: Gharlane of Eddore, Re: E2 is great SF, rec.arts.sf.tv, http://groups.google.com/group/rec.arts.sf.tv/msg/b4020dab6031f759?dmode=source&hl=en
So either they've got a *really* hinky space drive, or they're just just plain fat-assed lard-brained idiots with delusions of competence.

Heck, I'd *much* rather the 68xxx architecture had caught on than Intel, with its hinky memory-handling.

2008 Sept 8: Dave Letterman discussing the climate crisis, The Late Show with Dave Letterman, Show #2980, rec.arts.tv, http://lateshow.cbs.com/latenight/lateshow/wahoo/index/php/20080908.phtml
I’ve been persuaded that something is hinky, and by God, you can quote me on that. Something is hinky.

Hinky

Meaning

Adj

Synonyms