Hinky

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Hinky is law enforcement jargon used by U.S. police officers to denote a situation in which circumstances, people, activities, or objects justify investigation, but the specific reason for the action is not yet clear. Identifying something as "hinky" is usually considered the result of a cop's intuition, or unconscious observations. "Something hinky" is the explanation for an interview that goes from casual to serious with no specific reason. It's why a police car might call in a license plate number on one of dozens of vehicles in view, and it's why a street cop might stop and question one pedestrian but not another who's dressed and behaving similarly.

In many areas of the U.S., the term has propagated into the general slang lexicon where its use has been distorted. The meaning, as found in most slang dictionaries, is "a term describing something that's just not quite right." The word is commonly used by non-police to mean "unusual", or "weird".

Abby Sciuto, the lab tech in the TV Series NCIS, uses the word to describe evidence that does not make sense.