jive turkey
(US, idiomatic, dated, _, slang) Someone who performs the jive dance, especially in an amusing or showy manner.
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Born ~1970 · no dated citations yetDefinitions
(US, idiomatic, dated, _, slang) Someone who performs the jive dance, especially in an amusing or showy manner.
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(US, idiomatic, dated, _, slang) Someone who behaves in a glib and disingenuous fashion, a jiver.
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(US, idiomatic, derogatory, dated, _, slang) A fool, a chump, a target for jiving.
"jive turkey" means: A fool, a chump, a target for jiving.. This is informal slang, common in casual speech, texting and social media, but not appropriate for school work, applications or professional settings. There is no real cause for concern in itself; it is everyday peer vocabulary. If your child uses it, a light comment about audience and register is usually enough — no need to escalate. Context, more than the word, tells you whether to follow up.
"jive turkey" means: A fool, a chump, a target for jiving.. Register: informal slang, fine in casual conversation, texting and social media but not in academic essays, business writing or formal speech. Note the regional or dialect label (US) — usage may sound odd outside that variety. A common non-native mistake is to use the word in the wrong register, or to assume one fixed meaning when it is actually polysemous; always check the surrounding register and the audience before producing it yourself. In formal writing, prefer a neutral synonym or a short descriptive phrase, and use this word only when you have heard or read it being used naturally in a comparable context.
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Semantically related
- jive around71%
(slang, dated) To tease or mess with (someone).
- jive-ass69%
(US, disparaging, slang, vulgar) Of or related to jiving, characterized by dishonest foolishness or low-class hustling.
- jive around67%
To jive around means to tease, mess with, or play games with someone — stringing them along without being straight with them. It's a dated bit of American slang rooted in the jazz-era use of "jive" to mean nonsense or deceptive talk. When you jive around with someone, you're not taking them seriously, giving them the runaround, or goofing with their head. The phrasing feels mid-20th century but still communicates perfectly.