spiv en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (Southern-England) audio
- /spɪv/
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.
Meanings
- (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 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.
2010 September 22, Gavin Stamp, quoting Vince Cable, “Cable in attack on bonuses for City 'spivs'”, in BBC News: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!
1960 [1959], Colin MacInnes, Absolute Beginners, New York: Macmillan, page 65: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" […]
1978, Paul Theroux, Picture Palace, page 92:
- (Ireland, UK, dated, qualifier:Scotland Yard) A low and common thief.
- (Ireland, UK, dated) A slacker; one who shirks responsibility.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| spivs | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
spivish · spivvy · spivvish · spivvery
Synonyms
mountebank · fraudmeister · cheat · bunco-steerer · conman · swindler · rook · sharper · fleecer · landshark · fraudster · grifter · Scandaroon · saltimbanco · trapan · grifter · scammer · sharper · slicker · sharker · charlatan · magsman · chiseler · confidence trickster · wide boy · goldbrick · cheater · scamp · schemester · finagler · chiseler · lugger · shark-gull · defrauder · smooth operator · fraud · jackal · humbug · pickpenny · bunco artist · slicker · flimflammer · trepan · cozener · bunco-steerer · spieler · chiseler · gyp · bristler · confidence artist · con artist · gull · spiv · sharpster