shoneen
/ (ˈʃoːniːn) /
noun
Irish an Irishman who imitates English ways
Origin of shoneen
1C19: from Irish Gaelic Seoinín, diminutive of Seon John (taken as typical English name)
Words Nearby shoneen
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
How to use shoneen in a sentence
shoneen; a gentleman in a small way: a would-be gentleman who puts on superior airs.
English As We Speak It in Ireland | P. W. JoyceSometimes you can hardly distinguish a squireen from a half-sir or from a shoneen.
English As We Speak It in Ireland | P. W. JoyceHence shoneen means "a little gentry John," and is applied to upstarts and "big" farmers, who ape the rank of gentleman.
Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry | William Butler Yeats
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