Recent Examples on the WebThis was a skeevy move by Hayden.—BostonGlobe.com, 7 Sep. 2022 Keep cherry picking, keep changing the subject, keep misinterpreting graphs, and keep slinging ad hominems (note: that last one is skeevy and foul and disgusting almost beyond belief).—Phil Plait, Discover Magazine, 19 July 2012 It’s a Pacific Ocean that washes up skeevy wonders from its Great Garbage Patch.—Tad Friend, The New Yorker, 18 Oct. 2021 Schrader draws them together by staging a right-wing hotel-expo encounter between Tell and his former overseer at Abu Ghraib, Major John Gordo, played by Willem Dafoe as a skeevy opportunist with a mustache like a giant sardine.—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 2 Sep. 2021 But the arrival of a skeevy stranger sends things spiraling, exposing dark pasts and lies.—Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 21 Apr. 2021 The practices described by the FTC are obviously skeevy.—Los Angeles Times, 15 Dec. 2020 The series of skeevy guys are played by actors known for playing likable men on TV, including Adam Brody, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Sam Richardson, Chris Lowell and Max Greenfield.—Los Angeles Times, 24 Dec. 2020 Fennell set out to defy expectations with her supporting cast as well, selecting beloved figures to play the secretly skeevy men.—Washington Post, 24 Dec. 2020
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'skeevy.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
probably from skeeve "to disgust, be disgusted by" (borrowed from the stem of Italian schifare "to loathe, feel disgust for," earlier "to shun, avoid," borrowed from Old French eschiver) + -y entry 1 — more at eschew
Note:
The -v- in skeeve may reflect lax consonant articulation in southern Italian dialects, perceived as voicing by non-dialect speakers.
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