Spalpeen
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A poor migratory farm worker in Ireland, often viewed as a rascal or mischievous and cunning person. Ireland, ethnic, slur
""And they stood you before the magistrates, like a spalpeen or a tinker." / "Sure the French wouldn't bring with them barrels of coppers for the spalpeens of Connaught. It is murder and bloodshed they would bring.""
- 2 A good-for-nothing person. Ireland, endearing, sometimes
"[A] fortunate accident […] happened to me when I was a very little boy. A good-hearted old Irish nurse (whom I shall not forget in my will) took me up one day by the heels, when I was making more noise than was necessary, and, swinging me round two or three times, d——d my eyes for "a skreeking little spalpeen," and then knocked my head into a cocked hat against the bed-post. This, I say, decided my fate, and made my fortune."
Example
More examples""And they stood you before the magistrates, like a spalpeen or a tinker." / "Sure the French wouldn't bring with them barrels of coppers for the spalpeens of Connaught. It is murder and bloodshed they would bring.""
Etymology
A late 18th-century term, from Irish spailpín.
Related phrases
More for "spalpeen"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.