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Jun 15, 2023
This week’s theme
Double-duty words

This week’s words
stymie
sluice
chirk
skeeve
souse

skeeve
Illustration: Anu Garg + AI
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skeeve

PRONUNCIATION:
(skeev)

MEANING:
verb tr.: To disgust.
noun: A disgusting person.

ETYMOLOGY:
Probably a back-formation from skeevy (disgusting), from Italian schifare (to disgust or to loathe). Earliest documented use: verb: 1986, noun: 1990.

USAGE:
“People have a thing about feet ... People get skeeved.’”
Katherine Rosman; He Took His Shoes Off 20 Years Ago; The New York Times; Mar 1, 2023.

“He’s a skeeve. Never liked him. Never hang with him. He just ain’t right.”
Kristen Ashley; Free; Rock Chick; 2019.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
To a father growing old, nothing is dearer than a daughter. -Euripides, playwright (c. 480-406 BCE)

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