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
He started off so smarmily overconfident about his new career as a spiv.
From Slate • Feb. 13, 2012
Alderman sidled up in the manner of Dad's Army's resident spiv Joe Walker with a pocketful of petrol coupons to shift at the policeman's ball.
From The Guardian • Jul. 26, 2011
The decline and fall of Empire is measured by the spurious successes of a black-marketeering London spiv who finds loot among the ruins.
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.
