sloven
- a person who is habitually negligent of neatness or cleanliness in dress, appearance, etc.
- a person who works, acts, speaks, etc., in a negligent, slipshod manner.
Origin of sloven
Examples from the Web for sloven
Historical Examples of sloven
Having been a coxcomb in his youth, Fox was now degenerating into the sloven.
Beaux and Belles of EnglandMary Robinson
The sloven becomes the bungler, and the bungler is on the high road to failure.
Rural Life and the Rural SchoolJoseph Kennedy
He had seen the sloven tilled decks and the savage-eyed crew.
"Captains Courageous"Rudyard Kipling
As to his being a sloven in dress, is that what they say about him?
The Rose of Old St. LouisMary Dillon
The sloven and the dude are both slaves; but in different ways.
Practical EthicsWilliam DeWitt Hyde
sloven
- a person who is habitually negligent in appearance, hygiene, or work
Word Origin for sloven
Word Origin and History for sloven
late 15c., "immoral woman," later (16c.) also "rascal, knave" (regardless of gender); probably from a continental Germanic source, cf. Middle Flemish sloovin "a scold," sloef "untidy, shabby," Dutch slof "careless, negligent," Middle Low German sloven "put on clothes carelessly," from Proto-Germanic *slaubjan, from PIE *sleubh- "to slide, slip" (see sleeve). Meaning "person careless of dress or negligent of cleanliness" is from 1520s. Cf. also slut.