What does “louche” mean in French?

Louche is the everyday adjective for something that does not smell right: une affaire louche is a shady deal, ça fait un peu louche is “that looks a bit fishy.” It suits situations and people rather than proven crimes, so it is the word for a suspicion you cannot quite pin down — a car sold at three in the morning, say, at a price that is too good.

Une louche — a soup ladle — is a separate word that happens to look identical. The adjective comes from Latin luscus, “one-eyed,” by way of squinting and then shiftiness; the noun comes from Old Low Franconian lōtia, “big spoon.” The ladle also gives à la louche, “roughly,” as in measuring something by the scoopful.