Word.ws English Dictionary

Shaggy defense

Shaggy defense noun: a legal defense strategy in which the defendant categorically denies any involvement.

Noun

Shaggy defense (plural Shaggy defenses)

  1. (informal) A legal defense strategy in which the defendant categorically denies any involvement.

Forms of Shaggy defense

pluralShaggy defenses

Origin of Shaggy defense

Coined by Slate writer Josh Levin in 2008 to describe the defense tactics used by singer R. Kelly on trial for child pornography charges. The term refers to reggae musician Shaggy's 2000 single "It Wasn't Me", which narrates a story of shamelessly denying one's infidelity.

Questions about Shaggy defense

What does Shaggy defense mean?
Shaggy defense means a legal defense strategy in which the defendant categorically denies any involvement.
What part of speech is Shaggy defense?
Shaggy defense is a noun.
What is the plural of Shaggy defense?
The plural of Shaggy defense is Shaggy defenses.

Words near Shaggy defense in the dictionary

  1. shaggoth
  2. shaggoths
  3. shaggy
  4. shaggy cut
  5. shaggy cuts
  6. Shaggy defense
  7. shaggy dog stories
  8. shaggy dog story
  9. shaggy dog tale
  10. shaggy dog tales
  11. shaggy dwarf morning glories

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Shaggy defense (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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