rash
1 Americanadjective
-
acting or tending to act too hastily or without due consideration.
- Synonyms:
- foolhardy, indiscreet, precipitate, incautious, venturous, reckless, impetuous, hasty
- Antonyms:
- cautious
-
characterized by or showing too great haste or lack of consideration.
rash promises.
noun
-
an eruption or efflorescence on the skin.
-
a multitude of instances of something occurring more or less during the same period of time.
a rash of robberies last month.
adjective
-
acting without due consideration or thought; impetuous
-
characterized by or resulting from excessive haste or impetuosity
a rash word
noun
-
pathol any skin eruption
-
a series of unpleasant and unexpected occurrences
a rash of forest fires
Usage
What does rash mean? Rash describes acting too quickly and without proper planning, as in James was rash when he decided to quit his job after just one hard day. Rash also describes a great haste or a lack of consideration, such as Sahad avoided making rash decisions by doing a lot of research first. A rash is a skin condition, such as bumps or a red area, like you might get if you touch poison ivy. A rash is also several instances of something that occur at the same or nearly the same time, such as a rash of snowstorms over a week or a rash of electronic sales during the winter holidays. Example: He always jumps head first into rash decisions, but sometimes it works out.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of rash1
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English; cognate with Dutch, German rasch “quick, brisk,” Old Norse rǫskr “brave”
Origin of rash2
1700–10; < French rache (obsolete), Old French rasche skin eruption, derivative of raschier to scratch, ultimately < Latin rādere to scratch
Explanation
A rash is something that spreads like wild fire — red itchy skin or a series of unfortunate events. It can also describe an impulsive, wild decision. As an adjective, rash has meant "quick, vigorous" since the 1300s by way of Scotland. The meaning shifted to "reckless" a few hundred years later, and can still be used that way — a "rash decision" is a sudden, not well thought out one. Rash, the noun that no one wants on their skin, came a few hundred years after that, but from the French word rache which at some point meant "ringworm." Ringworm still gives us a red, itchy rash. Fun! Rash can also mean a lot of unpleasant things happening in a short amount of time, like robberies or earthquakes.
Vocabulary lists containing rash
The Balcony Scene from "Romeo and Juliet"
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"Marriage is a Private Affair" by Chinua Achebe
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Walk Two Moons
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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.
See Examples For:
Scabies is an itchy rash caused by mites and should be treated quickly to stop it spreading.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
As someone who is perennially image-conscious, constantly innovating, and occasionally rash, it’s not surprising that an artist like Madonna would incorporate new technology into her art.
From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2026
But as the country struggles with a slowdown and enormous debt, Chinese leader Xi Jinping is cracking down on officials who try to boost their careers with flashy projects and rash policies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 28, 2026
Akshay Deoras, a senior researcher at the University of Reading's National Centre for Atmospheric Science, in England, said it was clear what was behind the rash of heat records.
From Barron's ● Jun. 22, 2026
If this is the case, I cannot avoid saying that I think it was very rash of him in more ways than one.
From "Nine Stories" by J. D. Salinger
Many couples say their marriage hinges on one party coming around to their spouse’s feline friends, which can mean dealing with severe rashes, smelly litter boxes and early wakeups.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
Their tiny hairs contain toxins that may lead to itchy skin rashes, sore throats, breathing difficulties and eye irritation if touched or inhaled.
From BBC ● May 28, 2026
The US government's disaster agency has linked emissions from landfill fires to cancer, liver damage, rashes and reproductive disorders.
From Barron's ● Apr. 30, 2026
When Kirstie Rickert’s daughter was born a preemie two years ago, diaper rashes were a major and relentless struggle.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 10, 2026
I’d taken to wearing socks on my hands for sleeping to cut back on bites and rashes, and as I peeled them off, I used one to wipe his nose.
From "Endangered" by Eliot Schrefer
As written, the recipe needs nothing more than a generous swipe of cultured butter and a plate of soft scrambled eggs, maybe a rasher of bacon if you’re feeling traditional.
From Salon ● Nov. 4, 2025
Braised wagyu beef cheek was less tender than it should have been, but butter and dark chocolate enriched the sauce, cambozola sharpened the accompanying gratin, and a crisp rasher of speck capped the dish.
From Seattle Times ● May 24, 2018
Matt made a sandwich with two angus patties with red onion, cheddar, caramelized onions, rasher bacon, grilled pineapple, a fried egg, tomato chili jam and aioli wrapped in lettuce.
From Time ● Aug. 4, 2015
David Lean's grimly black-and-white Oliver Twist, released in 1948, muffles the book's raw, coarse alternation of murder and mockery, which Dickens likened to the layers of meat and fat in a rasher of streaky bacon.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 20, 2011
“You give him some water and a rasher of bacon,” said Bono, “he’d go on for some time in this vein.”
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
Show business is fear-driven, and that fuels Deborah and Ava’s rashest decisions more than anything else.
From Salon ● Apr. 10, 2025
But there were officials in place who could temper his rashest impulses.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 22, 2019
It wasn’t remotely the same, of course, and the overstatement rebounded against Strauss, who had never said anything of the kind but was soon being held accountable for the rashest words of his admirers.
From The New Yorker ● Oct. 17, 2016
He was the prettiest, the brashest, the baddest, the fastest, the loudest, the rashest.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2016
Certainly, the Gentleman’s Objection against the Persecution that Pamela suffers from lady Davers, in respect to the Relation this Madwoman bears to the Brother, is the rashest of All his Advices!
From Samuel Richardson's Introduction to Pamela by Baker, Sheridan Warner
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
