chav

[ chav ]

nounChiefly British Slang: Disparaging and Offensive.
  1. a young person who wears fashionable sportswear or flashy jewelry but is regarded as badly behaved or as having lower-class taste.

Origin of chav

1
First recorded in 1995–2000; perhaps shortening of British slang chavvy “baby, child,” or from Romani chavo “(Romani) boy, youth, unmarried man” or Romani chavi “baby, child,” probably from unrecorded Middle Indic chāva, chāpa “young of an animal,” from Sanskrit śāva

Other words from chav

  • chav·ish, chav·vy, adjective

Words Nearby chav

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British Dictionary definitions for chav

chav

/ (tʃæv) /


noun
  1. Southern English informal, derogatory a young working-class person whose tastes, although sometimes expensive, are considered vulgar by some

Origin of chav

1
perhaps from Romany chavi a child

Derived forms of chav

  • chavish, adjective

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