Meaning of spiv | Babel Free

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 flashy con artist, often homeless, who lives by his wits.
   Ireland, UK, dated
3. A low and common thief.
   Ireland, UK, dated
4. A slacker; one who shirks responsibility.
   Ireland, UK, dated

Equivalents

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!”

“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" […]”

“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.”

CEFR level