Spiv
noun ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 A smartly dressed person who trades in illicit, black-market or stolen goods, especially during World War II. Ireland, UK, historical
- 2 a person without employment who makes money by various dubious schemes; goes about smartly dressed and having a good time wordnet
- 3 A flashy con artist, often homeless, who lives by his wits. Ireland, UK, dated
"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!"
- 4 A low and common thief. Ireland, UK, dated
- 5 A slacker; one who shirks responsibility. Ireland, UK, dated
Example
More examples"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!"
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.
Related phrases
More for "spiv"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.