spiv
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of spiv
1885–90; back formation from dial. spiving smart; perhaps akin to spiffy
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The actor - defined by his roles as Arthur Daley and St Trinian's spiv Flash Harry - died in hospital following a short illness, aged 90.
From BBC ● Dec. 30, 2015
He’s what we Britons call a spiv, a dandified minor crook, and his knees seem to stay perpetually bent, often grotesquely so.
From New York Times ● Jun. 7, 2013
There are senior figures who occupy posts as regulators who want to put an end to spiv culture – such as Lord Turner at the FSA and Sir John Vickers at the banking commission.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 19, 2012
He started off so smarmily overconfident about his new career as a spiv.
From Slate ● Feb. 13, 2012
With alarm, the Daily Mail's Correspondent G. Ward Price reported that the horrid word "spiv" was "on every lip."
From Time Magazine Archive
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
