raffish

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English

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Etymology

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From late 18th century raff (persons among the lowest class in society) +‎ -ish, still retained in contemporary English with riffraff. From Old French raffer (to wear away), of Germanic origin. Compare German raffen. Compare rip (to tear), rap (to snatch).

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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raffish (comparative more raffish, superlative most raffish)

  1. Characterized by careless unconventionality; rakish.
    • 2021 May 4, Ruth La Ferla, “On That Bombshell Billie Eilish Cover for British Vogue”, in The New York Times[1], →ISSN:
      Billie Eilish wants you to know she is in charge, brash and self-assured enough to scrap the raffish image that helped garner her a world of fans in favor of something a little more … adult.
    • 2022, Jennifer Egan, “i, the Protagonist”, in The Candy House:
      The smokers' most raffish outsider, Comstock, appeared to do nothing but smoke; Chris had never seen him inside the building.
  2. Low-class; disreputable; vulgar.
    • 1891 February–December, Robert Louis Stevenson, chapter XV, in In the South Seas [], New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, published 1896, →OCLC:
      I had met the man before this in the village, and detested him on sight; there was something indescribably raffish in his looks and ways that raised my gorge; []
    • 1914, Joseph Conrad, “The Governess”, in Chance[2], London: Methuen, →OCLC:
      He bowed cordially to the lady in charge of Miss de Barral’s education, whom he saw in the hall engaged in conversation with a very good-looking but somewhat raffish young gentleman.
    • 1919, Anthony Hope, chapter VII, in The Secret of the Tower[3]:
      He wore a neat dark overcoat, brown shoes, and a bowler hat rather on one side; his appearance was, in fact, genteel, though his air was a trifle raffish.
    • 1951 February 11, Gladwin Hill, “Atomic Boom Town In the Desert”, in The New York Times[4], →ISSN:
      Altogether the city [Las Vegas] is one of the most amiably raffish communities in the nation—an assembly of glittering chrome and flaming colors by day, a flowering jungle of glowing neon and flashing lights by night.
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Translations

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Anagrams

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