A person who’s loudly confident but secretly fragile. A kleen hates being challenged, thrives on getting into
people’s heads, and uses
petty mind games to wind others up when they feel threatened. Often talks a big
game, especially about
football, despite delivering Sunday-league performances at best.
Common traits include selective hearing, emotional buffering when confronted, and an uncanny ability to dish it out but never take it.
“Don’t argue with him, he’s a proper kleen — you’ll get mind-gamed for 20 minutes and still watch him misplace a five-yard pass.”
Etymologically mysterious. Behaviourally predictable. The universe contains many such creatures.