Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. a man who considers himself irresistible to women, a romantic lover.

1922		in S. Armitage John Held 151: And oh! How she clicks with the rural Sheik!
1926		Judge (NY) 91 July-Dec. 31: Sheik - A male vamp.
1926		E. Walrond Tropic Death (1972) 58: Ah tell yo’ he is a sheik, tryin’ to git nex’ to dat hot yallah mama.
1929		Sun. Times (Perth) 14 Apr. 2/5: They Say [...] That the nearly-naked flapper was not far behind her sheik in immoral I manners.
1930		L. Lower Here’s Luck 30: ‘P’raps I’ll get better acquainted with my little fat sheik,’ she whispered.
1931		M. Gilbert Environment in Hatch & Hamalian Lost Plays of Harlem Renaissance (1996) II i: I met a girl that is just nuts to meet you. You old sheik, she’s coming here this afternoon.
1938		J. Curtis They Drive by Night 99: This mug gave her a pain. Didn’t half think he was a sheikh.
1942		in G. Legman Limerick (1953) 189: She thought it much neater / (Not to mention discreeter) / To do it with a sheik with a ‘Sheik’.
1953		W. Fisher Waiters 182: He looks like a real sheik!
1963		W.H. Pearson Coal Flat 147: He’s the biggest drunk in this town, biggest sheik too.
1979		‘Iceberg Slim’ Airtight Willie and Me 92: Woulda broke a murderer’s heart to see Timmie, the Sheik, shabby and falling down drunk.
a.1985		‘The Open Bk’ in G. Logsdon Whorehouse Bells Were Ringing (1995) 109: Now according to movie and story, / he’s a sheik in a ten gallon hat.
1992		(con. 1920) F.M. Davis Livin’ the Blues 48: A boy was a ‘sheik,’ and a girl was a ‘sheba’.

2. attrib. use of sense 1.

1963

Mad mag. Jan. 33: Many boys have adopted this method [i.e. a shoulder-punch] as the ‘sheik’ way of saying goodnight to a blind date.

3. a fashionably dressed young man.

1926		Van Vechten Nigger Heaven 8: Ah nebber did see no sheik what had yo’ gif’ fo’ dressin’.
1929		E. Booth Stealing Through Life 108: Dave was a dapper youth; if the term ‘sheik’ had been in common usage then, Dave would have merited it.
1932		V.F. Nelson Prison Days and Nights 79: He dressed himself in the sportiest of clothes and was soon one of the neighborhood ‘sheiks’.
1938		R. Chandler ‘Red Wind’ in Red Wind (1946) 37: He looked like a dance-hall sheik.
1942		‘Marienne’ ‘Solid Meddlin’’ in People’s Voice (NY) 4 Aprr. 30/1: The sheiks are comin’ on with some quarter-sized peg-bottom pants and nipped-in-the-waistline drapes.
1953		C. Brossard Bold Saboteurs (1971) 148: Why, I have strings of sheiks all over the country. Good-looking young chaps that like a good time.
1993		I.L. Allen City in Sl. (1995) 69: This image is certainly evoked of a flapper dancing the Charleston, usually paired side-by-side with her jellybean, boyfriend, sheik, or jazz bo.

4. attrib. use of sense 2.

1922		Ogden Standard Examiner (UT) 29 Oct. 7: Afteer the perfurmed bath he dons one of thse ‘sheik’ negligees to sip his coffee.
1930		Chronicle-Telegram (Elyria, OH) 26 May 9/3: Flipping or scathing retors [sic] in the modern flapper or sheik vernacular.
1930		R.E. Howard ‘Bull Dog Breed’ Fight Stories Feb. 🌐 A sleek-looking Frenchman with a sheik mustache got in the ring.
1936		Western Champion (Qld) 12 Dec. 3/1: Shied straight to the store [...] bought a sheik suit.
1962		(con. 1930s) H. Simmons Man Walking On Eggshells 27: They wore white handkerchiefs, tied around their heads sheik style. That meant you were a gang.