Standard Lemma guide

raffish

adj · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈɹæfɪʃ/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: R AE1 F IH0 SH Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Characterized by careless unconventionality; rakish.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Low-class; disreputable; vulgar.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adjective satellite

Meaning 3

marked by a carefree unconventionality or disreputableness- Crary Moore

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a cocktail party given by some...raffish bachelors

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: devil-may-care, rakish

Antonyms: none provided

4

adjective satellite

Meaning 4

marked by up-to-dateness in dress and manners

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a dapper young man
  • a jaunty red hat

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: dapper, dashing, jaunty, natty, rakish, spiffy, snappy, spruce

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

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”).

Across languages

Translations

2 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: разпасан (razpasan) — characterized by careless unconventionality — see also rakish
  • German: verwegen — characterized by careless unconventionality — see also rakish