Sleiveen

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈsliːviːn/

Alternative forms

• sleeveen

Origin

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

Full definition of sleiveen

Noun

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 2003, p. 298:You blackened, filthy sleeveen liar. I curse the living day I ever let you near me.