skive
/ˈskaɪv/verb, noun
skive is spelled S-K-I-V-E: 5 letters. It appears about once in every 23 million words in written English, the 145,125th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, skive means “To avoid one's lessons or work (chiefly at school or university); shirk” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in skive?
| Letters | 5: S-K-I-V-E |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 23 million words; the 145,125th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is skive?
Skive appears about once in every 23 million words in written English, the 145,125th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce skive?
- /ˈskaɪv/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-skive.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of skive
- skives present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- skiving participle, present
- skived participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does skive mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
CommonwealthIrelandUKinformalTo avoid one's lessons or work (chiefly at school or university); shirk.
- 2
To pare or shave off the rough or thick parts of.
noun
- 1
CommonwealthIrelandUKinformalSomething very easy, where one can slack off without penalty.
Mr Smith's history classes are a total skive.
- 2
CommonwealthIrelandUKinformalAn act of avoiding lessons or work.
- 3
A rotating iron disk coated with oil and diamond dust used to polish the facets of a diamond.
- 4
An angled cut or bevel at the edge of something.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Skive in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense To slack off:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | schwänzen |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does skive come from?
Probably from French esquiver (“slink away”), from Middle French esquiver (“to escape”), from Spanish esquivar (“to avoid, reject, elude”), from esquivo (“contemptuous, loathsome”), itself from Old French eschiver, of East Germanic origin, from Gothic *𐍃𐌺𐌹𐌿𐌷𐍃 (*skiuhs, “afraid, barefaced”), from Proto-Germanic *skeuhaz (“afraid, frightened”). Cognate with English shy, eschew.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).