sheik

[sheek, sheyk]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR sheik ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

Also shaikh, sheikh. (in Islamic countries) the patriarch of a tribe or family; chief: a term of polite address.

Slang. a man held to be masterful and irresistibly charming to women.

Origin of sheik

First recorded in 1570–80, sheik is from the Arabic word shaykh old man

Related formssheik·like, adjective

Can be confusedshake sheik (see synonym study at shake)

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for sheik

exaggerate, ridicule, lampoon, mimic, satirize, disparage, mock, leader, governor, chieftain, sheik, shah, amir, caricature, jest, joke, jeer, roast, distort, burlesque

Examples from the Web for sheik

Contemporary Examples of sheik

One of the most important rooms in the temple is the shrine of Sheik Adi ibn Musafir.
Fighting Back With Faith: Inside the Yezidis’ Iraqi Temple
Michael Luongo
August 21, 2014
Yezidis believe Sheik Adi was the possible reincarnation of Tawuse Melek.
Fighting Back With Faith: Inside the Yezidis’ Iraqi Temple
Michael Luongo
August 21, 2014
“They are army, not militia,” the sheik repeated throughout our conversation.
The Brewing Battle for Baghdad
Jacob Siegel
August 3, 2014
The sheik seemed to keep his young fighter on hand for meetings with journalists.
The Brewing Battle for Baghdad
Jacob Siegel
August 3, 2014
Sheik Rogo used to say my mother was fair: she gave one son to Obama and the other to Osama.
Death Squads in Kenya’s Shadow War on Shabaab Sympathizers
Margot Kiser
April 6, 2014

Historical Examples of sheik

Certainly, sheik; it will not take him five minutes to make his preparations.
At Aboukir and Acre
George Alfred Henty
When the sheik woke, after two hours' sleep, he drank some broth.
At Aboukir and Acre
George Alfred Henty
The hammock had been lowered to the ground, and Ali was holding the cup to the sheik's lips.
At Aboukir and Acre
George Alfred Henty
"Don't say any thing about it, sheik," Edgar said earnestly.
At Aboukir and Acre
George Alfred Henty
"Let us not talk more of them," the sheik said contemptuously.
At Aboukir and Acre
George Alfred Henty

Word Origin and History for sheik

"head of an Arab family," also "head of a Muslim religious order," 1570s, from Arabic shaykh "chief," literally "old man," from base of shakha "to grow old." Popularized by "The Sheik," novel in Arabian setting by E.M. Hull (1919), and the movie version, "The Sheikh," 1921, starring Rudolph Valentino, which gave it a 1920s sense of "strong, romantic lover."