Spiffy

//ˈspɪfi// adj, noun, slang

adj, noun, slang ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A dapper person. informal
  2. 2
    A spring-wire collar stay, worn by men.

    "The only neat thing about him was his collar. It was held down by a Spiffy wire stay."

Adjective
  1. 1
    Dapper; fine or neat, especially in style of clothing or other appearance. informal

    "He was “great” (as he expressed it) with the Bloomer who kept the bar where their club was held, and whom he styled “a spiffy girl,” and who had been graciously pleased to accept of a pair of very Brummagem-looking earrings, set with paste diamonds, with which he had presented her."

Adjective
  1. 1
    marked by up-to-dateness in dress and manners wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
dashingsnazzyspiffingwell dresseda la modeace-high

Example

More examples

"If we can't come up with a lofty-enough title for you, we make you a "coordinator" of this or that so it looks spiffy on a business card."

Etymology

Unknown. Attested in print from 1852 (see quotations below). Compare the noun spiff, attested from 1859, as well as spiffing (1872) and spiffed (1881), suggesting participle forms of a related verb. Compare also spiv (“a smartly-dressed criminal”), attested from the 20th century.

Related phrases

spiff upspruce up

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.