rakehell
Americannoun
adjective
noun
adjective
Etymology
Origin of rakehell
1540–50; alteration by folk etymology ( rake 1, hell ) of Middle English rakel (adj.) rash, rough, coarse, hasty (akin to rake 4 ); compare Old Norse reikall wandering, unsettled
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Breakfast with Pauling Agre claims he was a "rakehell" as an adolescent who enjoyed an idyllic childhood in a small town in Minnesota.
From Scientific American ● Jun. 28, 2011
The same woman, Frances Braham, had married both the rakehell Waldegraves.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 23, 2010
It deals with an exclusive Oxford undergraduate dining club, the Riot, named after an 18th century rakehell.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 16, 2010
The rakehell son is an old favorite of French fiction, and so is the mean-spirited bourgeois father who fails to understand him.
From Time Magazine Archive
There was Woodward as "The Fine Gentleman," with the inimitable rakehell air in which the heroes of Wycherly and Congreve and Farquhar live again.
From The International Monthly, Volume 4, No. 2, September, 1851 by Various
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