Advertisement
Advertisement
gyp
1[ jip ]
verb (used with or without object)
- Informal: Offensive. to defraud or rob by some sharp practice; swindle; cheat.
noun
- Informal: Offensive. a con, fraud, cheat, or ripoff.
- Also gyp·per [] gyp·ster []. Informal: Offensive. a swindler or cheat.
- Also called gypsy. (in horse racing) an owner of racehorses who also acts as trainer and jockey.
gyp
2[ jip ]
noun
- a male college servant, as at Cambridge and Durham.
gyp
1/ dʒɪp /
verb
- tr to swindle, cheat, or defraud
noun
- an act of cheating
- a person who gyps
gyp
2/ dʒɪp /
noun
- a college servant at the universities of Cambridge and Durham Compare scout 1
gyp
3/ dʒɪp /
noun
- slang.severe pain; torture
his arthritis gave him gyp
Sensitive Note
Word History and Origins
Origin of gyp1
Word History and Origins
Origin of gyp1
Origin of gyp2
Origin of gyp3
Example Sentences
Away they went, with Gyp at their heels, and every footstep resounded through the old house until they reached the upper floor.
An English, an American Gyp would typographically offend, and that would be the end of her.
It was kept by his old college gyp, a man of discreet silence, who was admirably partnered by an excellent cook.
Had he acted discourteously to his bedmaker or his gyp, he would have minded just as much, which was not polite of him.
Her age was seventeen, and she dressed after Carmen to please herself, and read Gyp with the same intention.
Advertisement
About This Word
More context on gyp
A term you probably want to eject from your vocabulary is gyp, slang for “to cheat” or “a cheat.” It is a shortening of the word gypsy, an often derogatory term for the Roma, a nomadic people who have been stereotyped as being swindlers or con artists. Read our Usage Note for even more context on gyp.
If knowing the history of gyp has got you reflecting on your word choices, this slideshow, “These Common Words Have Offensive Histories,” discusses many other words whose place in your vocab you may want to reconsider.
Keep in mind …
You don’t have to insult an ethnic group to refer to cheating. English has more alternatives for gyp than we can include here.
In place of gyp as a verb, consider:
In place of gyp as a noun, try fraud, racket, rip-off, con, and sham, to name a few.
And in place of gyp as a term for a person running a shady operation, use charlatan, con artist, crook, double-dealer, swindler, or thief.
Plenty more substitutes for gyp can be found a quick click away at Thesaurus.com. Start with cheat and fraud. Both of these do double duty (not double-dealing) as nouns and verbs for various duplicitous endeavors.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Browse