noun
Meaning 1
A dirty, shabbily-clothed child; an urchin.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
ragamuffin
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
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/ˈɹæɡəˌmʌfɪn/
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Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
noun
Meaning 2
A hooligan or troublemaker.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: slang
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
Alternative letter-case form of Ragamuffin (“breed of domestic cat”).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: alt-of
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 4
A domestic cat of a particular heavy, muscular, short-necked breed.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 5
a dirty shabbily clothed urchin
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: tatterdemalion
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: urchin
History
Etymology
From the Middle English Ragamuffyn. Of uncertain origin, according to Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable: A muffin is a poor thing of a creature, a ‘regular muff’; so that a ragamuffin is a sorry creature in rags.
Across languages
Translations
15 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Bulgarian: у́личник (úličnik) — dirty, shabbily-clothed child
- Bulgarian: дри́пльо (drípljo) — dirty, shabbily-clothed child
- Dutch: schooiertje — dirty, shabbily-clothed child
- Finnish: resupekka — dirty, shabbily-clothed child
- German: Lumpenkind — dirty, shabbily-clothed child
- Italian: straccione — dirty, shabbily-clothed child
- Macedonian: у́личар (úličar) — dirty, shabbily-clothed child
- Polish: obdartus — dirty, shabbily-clothed child
- Polish: łachmaniarz — dirty, shabbily-clothed child
- Polish: łapserdak — dirty, shabbily-clothed child
- Portuguese: farrapo — dirty, shabbily-clothed child
- Russian: оборва́нец (oborvánec) — dirty, shabbily-clothed child
- Russian: голодра́нец (golodránec) — dirty, shabbily-clothed child
- Spanish: arrapiezo — dirty, shabbily-clothed child
- Spanish: andrajoso — dirty, shabbily-clothed child
Real reading context