sleiveen

• sleeveen, sleveen

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

• IPA^(key): /ˈsliːviːn/

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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.