- Slang – Chav
- Meaning – A young person who behaves like a lout and is a bit of a troublemaker. Young – usually British – people who wear athletic clothes and gold chains, listen to rap or dance music and like to drink cheap alcohol. They often cause trouble and are not interested in education.
- A female chav can also be known as a chavette.
- This is British English slang.
- Other expressions for young people who cause trouble include:
- Hooligan
- Lout
- Ruffian
- Scally
- Scallywag
- Yob
- The word chav obviously has negative connotations – so use with caution. Some believe that this word is used to generalise working class people or poor people in a negative manner. Check out a BBC article about this issue: Why is ‘chav’ still controversial?
Example:
- “I called the police last night because I saw a bunch of chavs hanging around my new bimmer!”
In The News:
Waitrose stopping free coffees amid ‘chav‘ complaints
More from FunkyEnglish: