knife-ear

noun

An elf.

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Meanings

nounknife-ear (plural knife-ears)

plural knife-ears · alternative knife ear

  1. derogatoryslangfantasyAn elf.

    You've a lot of nerve, knife-ears. This'll go badly for you.

    2009 November 3, BioWare (developer), David Gaider (lead writer), Dragon Age: Origins, →OCLC, scene: wedding cutscene in the City Elf origin
    2 more examples

    "Hard to believe the elves wiped out the Knights of Saint Augustine. Their captain was capable of summoning the angel, you know? How did a couple of knife-ears stand up to the Kingdom's strongest knights and an angel?”

    2020, 616th Special Information Battalion (trans. ZackZeal), Her Majesty's Swarm: Volume 1, unnumbered page

    "Get your ass in here. It's time you started acting like the chicano ork you are and not some pansy elf listening to Americano music by yourself all the time. That's what knife-ears do! Now get in here!"

    2022, O. C. Presley, Shadowrun: Kings of the Street, unnumbered pages

Origin

From an allusion to the pointed ears common in fantasy depictions of elves. Popularised by Dragon Age: Origins (2009) and its subsequent use in the Dragon Age franchise. Possibly influenced by the earlier round-ear.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

knife-ear. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/knife-ear

MLA

“knife-ear.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/knife-ear. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “knife-ear,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/knife-ear.

Source: knife-ear on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.