spiff

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English

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /spɪf/
  • Audio (Southern England):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɪf

Noun

spiff (countable and uncountable, plural spiffs)

  1. (uncountable) Attractiveness or charm in dress, appearance, or manner.
    Without a diploma, he relies on spiff alone to climb the corporate ladder.
  2. (countable, archaic, slang) A well-dressed man; a swell.
  3. (countable, commerce, slang) A bonus or other remuneration, given for reaching a sales goal or promoting the goods of a particular manufacturer. Originally from textile retailing, a percentage given for selling off surplus or out-of-fashion stock, of which the sales person could offer part as a discount to a customer.
  4. (countable, colloquial, Jamaica) Alternative form of spliff (“hand-rolled marijuana cigarette”)
    • 2000, Leone Ross, Tasting Songs, in Dark Matter (ed. Sheree R. Thomas), p. 76:
      She rolled a spiff for us as she spoke, sifting the ganja between her fingers […]

Translations

Verb

spiff (third-person singular simple present spiffs, present participle spiffing, simple past and past participle spiffed)

  1. (transitive, informal) (usually with up or out) To make spiffy (attractive, polished, or up-to-date)
    • 1874, William Schwenck Gilbert, Foggerty's Fairy:
      Oh, but we flatter ourselves that we are spiffed out; at all events, we've got our best dresses on.
    • 1996, Coke Newell, Cow Chips Aren't for Dippin':
      This ensemble may be properly spiffed with a bolo tie, and topped off with a. . .
    • 2005, Jill Larson Sundberg, Michael Larson, Babes Remember:
      We dated boys who had their own cars and wow! what fancy cars they were—spiffed and buffed in bright '50s reds or turquoises.
    • 2011, Andrew R. Thomas, Soft Landing: Airline Industry Strategy, Service, and Safety, page 152:
      Infrastructure Spiffed?
  2. (transitive, commerce, slang) To reward (a salesperson) with a spiff or bonus.
    • 1968, The Stereophile - Issue 2, page 26:
      It is my confirmed belief that, spiffed or not, the salesman is the consumer's best-qualified and best- informed source of assistance in matters of component selection.
    • 2009, Dave Lakhani, How To Sell When Nobody's Buying:
      The company made more money, and so did the salesperson who was spiffed on the sale and he was selling a product that most people don't buy.
  3. (transitive, commerce, slang) To attach a spiff or bonus to the selling of (a product)
    • 1906, The American Magazine - Volume 62, page 497:
      It wasn't my fault if the blamed old store caught fire and gave me a chance to help Ferguson move out some of the stuff that has been 'spiffed' till it looks like red ink had been spilled all over the price-tags.
    • 1919, Boot and Shoe Recorder - Volumes 74-75, page 59:
      Because you can pull out a spiff anywhere you are in the store and the customers are not aware that they are spiffed shoes.
  4. (transitive, informal) To throw; to heave.
    I spiffed the turf over the edge and it went straight through the window and hit the officer.

Synonyms

Derived terms

See also

Translations

Anagrams

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