English · Slang Historical

shark

Preserved but no longer current.

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

A sharper, a swindler. Bow Street term in 1785, now in most dictionaries.—Friesic and Danish, SCHURK. See LAND-SHARK.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Kẻ lừa đảo, kẻ gian

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Era: ca. 1874 (Victorian)

Where it’s used: Origin British & Irish English

Sources & notes

Historical definition reproduced from Hotten’s The Slang Dictionary (1874, public domain; Project Gutenberg #42108, retrieved 2026-07-31). Reflects the attitudes of its era.

Topics: Sea giants Historical slang (1800s)

Common questions

What does “shark” mean?

A sharper, a swindler. Bow Street term in 1785, now in most dictionaries.—Friesic and Danish, SCHURK. See LAND-SHARK.

Is “shark” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

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