What does chivy mean?
Chivy is an informal verb meaning to pester, nag, or hurry someone along with persistent, often exasperating urging — as when a parent chivies reluctant children out of the house on a school morning, or an editor chivies a writer toward a deadline. It can also serve as a noun, chiefly in British English, denoting a chase or a flurry of bustling activity. The word has circulated in English since at least the seventeenth century under several spellings, including chivvy and chevy, though its ultimate origin remains uncertain. Connotations are mildly comic rather than harsh: to chivy someone is to wear them down through sheer insistence, not to threaten or bully. More common in British than American usage, it sits comfortably alongside synonyms such as harry, hassle, badger, and hustle, and offers writers a vivid, slightly old-fashioned alternative to blunter words for nagging.
To harass, nag, or hustle someone persistently in order to make them do something or move faster.
"He chivied the applicants along, impatient to fill the last two places on the course."
A chase; also, chiefly in British English, a scolding or a state of busy harassment.
"What a chivy it was getting five cats into carriers and down to the vet."
'Chivy' has bounced through English under half a dozen spellings — chivvy, chevy, chivey — since the 1600s, yet no one is quite sure where it came from in the first place.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of chivy
Chivy first appears in English in the early seventeenth century, spelled variously as chevy, chivey, and later chivvy, and originally meant a chase or pursuit. Its ultimate origin is uncertain: some lexicographers have connected it to 'chase' or to the interjection used in hunting cries, but no derivation has been firmly established. Over time the verb developed its dominant modern sense of harassing or hurrying someone by persistent urging. The spelling 'chivy' is one of several accepted variants, with 'chivvy' particularly common in British English.
Related word forms
How chivy is actually used
Informal to neutral in register, 'chivy' is more common in British English than American English, where 'hassle' or 'harry' are preferred. The spellings 'chivy', 'chivvy', and 'chevy' are all accepted variants, with 'chivvy' especially frequent in British usage.
Easily confused with chivy
Chevy is chiefly a variant spelling of the same word and also means a chase, but 'chivy' is now the more common spelling for the sense of nagging or hustling someone.