chav
Plural: chavs
Noun
- A working-class youth, especially one associated with aggression, poor education, and a perceived "common" taste in clothing and lifestyle.
Origin / Etymology
Origin uncertain; probably of Angloromani origin. Compare Romani chavi (“male child”) or ćhavo, shavo (“female child”), chal (“boy”), chavvy (“mate, friend”), compare Swedish tjej; possibly cognate with Portuguese chavalo, Spanish chaval, German Chabo, Russian чувак (čuvak), Hungarian csávó. See also charva.
A derivation from "council-housed and violent" is widely regarded as a backronym and folk etymology.
Synonyms
Barry boy, Westie, adlay, bam, bazza, benny, bogan, bopper, brush, charva, charver, chav, dobber, dresser, dumbo, eshay, gazza, gippo, herbert, hood rat, kev, knacker, mev, ned, nob, ocker, pikey, pleb, poor white trash, prole, puffy, radgie, redneck, rudeboy, rudie, scally, scanger, schemie, scobe, scoundrel, scratter, scrote, scrub, scrubber, scuffer, scumbag, scunner, scutter, sham, skanger, skeet, smackhead, smick, snoopy, spide, steek, stig, sweeper, thug, thugette, townie, trailer trash, trev, vic, white trash, wigger, yarco, yob, yobbo
Scrabble Score: 12
chav: not valid in Scrabble (US) TWL Dictionarychav: not valid in Scrabble (MW) Merriam-Webster Dictionary
chav: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary