Meaning & use

Skiver

noun·Advanced

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A thin, tough leather made by splitting a sheepskin, used for bookbinding and other light leather goods; in British informal use, a person who deliberately avoids work or duty.

See it in a sentence

The old journal's cover was bound in soft red skiver leather.

The manager complained that one skiver on the team kept vanishing whenever there was heavy lifting to do.

A note on using this word

The leather sense and the "lazy person" slang sense are unrelated, the latter deriving from the British verb "skive," meaning to evade work.

Words with a similar meaning

shirkerslacker

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

worker

Another way to use it

2. noun

A thin leather made by splitting sheepskin, used in bookbinding and small leather goods.

The notebook's cover was wrapped in dark green skiver.

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