Standard Lemma guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
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noun
A smartly dressed person who trades in illicit, black-market or stolen goods, especially during World War II.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Ireland, UK, historical
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
A flashy con artist, often homeless, who lives by his wits.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Ireland, UK, dated
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: sharper, chiseler, wide boy, bunco-steerer, charlatan, cheat, jackal, cheater, cozener, defrauder, finagler, fleecer, fraud, fraudmeister, fraudster, humbug, goldbrick, grifter, gull, gyp, landshark, pickpenny, rook, scammer, scamp, Scandaroon, schemester, slicker, spieler, swindler, trapan, trepan, bristler, bunco artist, con artist, confidence artist, confidence trickster, conman, flimflammer, lugger, magsman, mountebank, saltimbanco, sharpster, sharker, shark-gull, smooth operator, spiv
Antonyms: none provided
noun
A low and common thief.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Ireland, UK, dated
Qualifier: Scotland Yard
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
A slacker; one who shirks responsibility.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Ireland, UK, dated
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
a person without employment who makes money by various dubious schemes; goes about smartly dressed and having a good time
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: idler, loafer, do-nothing, layabout, bum
History
Unknown. Perhaps from spiff, spiffy. Spiv was the nickname of Henry Bagster, a Londoner arrested a number of times in 1904-6 for activities as described below, and may have been the archetype. Also possibly from Romani spiv (“sparrow”), as active and opportunistic.
