sheik

Definition

The leader of an Arab village, family or small tribe.

Etymology

From Arabic شَيْخ (šayḵ, “elder”). Sense 4 (“a romantic lover”) is from the 1921 film The Sheik.

Example Sentences

• "Tarzan, who, by this time, with the assistance of Abdul, had picked up quite a smattering of Arab, questioned one of the younger men who had accompanied the sheik while the latter paid his respects to Captain Gerard."
• "He then studied under a variety of scholars (shuyook) and institutes around the world in his quest for authentic knowledge."
• "When your last natural tooth goes, the time when you can kid yourself that you're a Hollywood sheik, is definitely at an end."