sleiveen

English

WOTD – 17 March 2010, 17 March 2011

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Irish slíghbhín, slíbhín, with the same meaning; from sliabh (“mountain”) (hence the implication that the person is rural).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈsliːviːn/
    • Audio (Southern England):(file)

Noun

sleiveen (plural sleiveens)

  1. (Ireland, Newfoundland) A dishonest person; a trickster, usually from a rural area.
    • 1889, WB Yeats, The Ballad of Father O'Hart:
      In trust he took John's lands; / Sleiveens were all his race
    • 2002, Joseph O'Connor, Star of the Sea, Vintage, published 2003, page 298:
      You blackened, filthy sleeveen liar. I curse the living day I ever let you near me.

Translations

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