spiv
Valid in Scrabble
- Scrabble points
- 9
- Words With Friends
- 11
- Letters
- 4
Definition of spiv
4 senses · 1 part of speech · etymology included
noun
- (Ireland, UK, historical)A smartly dressed person who trades in illicit, black-market or stolen goods, especially during World War II.
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noun
- (Ireland, UK, historical)A smartly dressed person who trades in illicit, black-market or stolen goods, especially during World War II.
-
(Ireland, UK, dated)A flashy con artist, often homeless, who lives by his wits.
“I mean, Mayfair is just top spivs stepping into the slippers of the former gentry, and Belgravia, like I've said, is all flats in houses built as palaces, and Chelsea—well!”
“It was Robeson who introduced me to the other blacks in New York, the Show Boat cast, the hangers-on, girlfriends, spivs, and bookies. "My people," he called them, "my brothers and sisters" […]”
“I make no apology for attacking spivs and gamblers who did more harm to the British economy than [transport union leader] Bob Crow could achieve in his wildest Trotskyite fantasies, while paying themselves outrageous bonuses underwritten by the taxpayer.”
- (Ireland, UK, dated)A low and common thief.
- (Ireland, UK, dated)A slacker; one who shirks responsibility.
Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.
Etymology
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.
Words you can make from spiv
7 playable · top: VIS (6 pts)
Best play vis 6 points3-letter words
3 words2-letter words
3 wordsHooks
1 extension · 1 back
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