Sheik

//ʃeɪk// noun, slang

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The leader of an Arab village, family or small tribe.

    "Tarzan, who, by this time, with the assistance of Abdul, had picked up quite a smattering of Arab, questioned one of the younger men who had accompanied the sheik while the latter paid his respects to Captain Gerard."

  2. 2
    a man who is much concerned with his dress and appearance wordnet
  3. 3
    An Islamic religious cleric; the master of a Sufi order.

    "He then studied under a variety of scholars (shuyook) and institutes around the world in his quest for authentic knowledge."

  4. 4
    the leader of an Arab village or family wordnet
  5. 5
    An official title for members of the royal family as well as some prominent families.
Show 3 more definitions
  1. 6
    A romantic lover. archaic, slang

    "When your last natural tooth goes, the time when you can kid yourself that you're a Hollywood sheik, is definitely at an end."

  2. 7
    An Arab, especially one dressed in traditional clothing. slang
  3. 8
    An honorific for specialists in spirituality, for example in Sufism.

Etymology

From Arabic شَيْخ (šayḵ, “elder”). Sense 4 (“a romantic lover”) is from the 1921 film The Sheik.

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