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ratfink

American  
[rat-fingk] / ˈrætˌfɪŋk /

noun

Slang.

  1. fink.

ratfink British  
/ ˈrætˌfɪŋk /

noun

  1. slang a contemptible or undesirable person

"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

Etymology

Origin of ratfink

First recorded in 1960–65; rat + fink

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.

I drowned my sorrows in cherry Kool-Aid, and went to confer with the boys on the other side of the pool, where we ganged up on one of them, naming him Rick the Ratty Raunchy Ratfink, which, we decided, would be his nickname for all time.

From The New Yorker

“Rick the Ratty Raunchy Ratfink’s hair is longer than yours.”

From The New Yorker

In American criminal circles, a fink was an informer or stool pigeon; a particularly egregious example of the species was given the intensified label of ratfink.

From Slate

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.