ragamuffin

[rag-uh-muhf-in]

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noun

a ragged, disreputable person; tatterdemalion.

a child in ragged, ill-fitting, dirty clothes.

Origin of ragamuffin

1350–1400; Middle English Ragamoffyn, name of a demon in the poem Piers Plowman

Synonyms for ragamuffin

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2. waif, urchin, guttersnipe, street arab.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for ragamuffin

beggar, urchin, vagrant, orphan, waif, tramp, tatterdemalion, bum, vagabond, loafer, hobo, wastrel, guttersnipe, gamin, scarecrow

Examples from the Web for ragamuffin

Historical Examples of ragamuffin

"I'll give you the bulliest shine you ever had," said the ragamuffin.
Brave and Bold
Horatio Alger
I feel enough like a sneakin' ragamuffin and housebreaker as 'tis.
Thankful's Inheritance
Joseph C. Lincoln
Then he is known as the "ragamuffin," on account of his covering of rags.
The Devil's Pool
George Sand
For this exploit the ragamuffin is lauding him to the skies.
The Works of Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe
Playing marbles with some of your ragamuffin friends, I suppose.
Fame and Fortune
Horatio Alger, Jr.

British Dictionary definitions for ragamuffin

ragamuffin

noun

a ragged unkempt person, esp a child

another name for ragga

Word Origin for ragamuffin

C14 Ragamoffyn, name of a demon in the poem Piers Plowman (1393); probably based on rag 1

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for ragamuffin

mid-14c., "demon," also in surnames (Isabella Ragamuffyn, 1344), from Middle English raggi "ragged" ("rag-y"?) + fanciful ending (or else second element is Middle Dutch muffe "mitten"). Or, as Johnson has it, "From rag and I know not what else." Ragged was used of the devil from c.1300 in reference to "shaggy" appearance. Raggeman was used by Langland as the name of a demon, and cf. Old French Ragamoffyn, name of a demon in a mystery play. Sense of "dirty, disreputable boy" is from 1580s. Cf. in the same sense ragabash (c.1600).