raffish

English

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raffish

/ˈɹæfɪʃ/

Where it comes from

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”).

adjective more raffish · most raffish

Characterized by careless unconventionality; rakish. 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.
Low-class; disreputable; vulgar. 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; […]

Translations

Every language

adj characterized by careless unconventionality — see also rakish

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MLA

"raffish." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/raffish. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

raffish. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/raffish

Chicago

"raffish." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/raffish.

BibTeX

@misc{raffish_2026,
  title = {raffish},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/raffish},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}