Question

raffish adjective "Raffish" sounds like it should mean "resembling raff." But what is raff? Originally, "raff" was a word meaning "rubbish"; it derived from Middle English "raf," and it was being used for trash and refuse back in the 1400s. Around a century later, English speakers were also using the word "riffraff" to mean "disreputable characters" or "rabble." The origins of "riffraff" are distinct from the "rubbish" sense of "raff"; "riffraff" derived from an Anglo-French phrase meaning "one and all." By the mid-1500s, the similarities between "raff" and "riffraff" had prompted people to start using the two words as synonyms, and "raff" gained a "rabble" sense. It was that ragtag "raff" that gave rise to the adjective "raffish" in the late 1700s. 1 : marked by or suggestive of flashy vulgarity or crudeness2 : marked by a careless unconventionality : rakish

Accepted Answer

March 4, 2011 RAF-ish Gina often seemed to be attracted to the raffish and rebellious boys, rather than the quiet intellectuals in her classes.  "They rode a bus a few stops and got off in the raffish suburb of Chelsea, a low-rent neighborhood of artists and writers." -- From Ken Follett's 2010 novel Fall of Giants

Word	raffish
Date	March 4, 2011
Type	adjective
Syllables	RAF-ish
Etymology	"Raffish" sounds like it should mean "resembling raff." But what is raff? Originally, "raff" was a word meaning "rubbish"; it derived from Middle English "raf," and it was being used for trash and refuse back in the 1400s. Around a century later, English speakers were also using the word "riffraff" to mean "disreputable characters" or "rabble." The origins of "riffraff" are distinct from the "rubbish" sense of "raff"; "riffraff" derived from an Anglo-French phrase meaning "one and all." By the mid-1500s, the similarities between "raff" and "riffraff" had prompted people to start using the two words as synonyms, and "raff" gained a "rabble" sense. It was that ragtag "raff" that gave rise to the adjective "raffish" in the late 1700s.
Examples	Gina often seemed to be attracted to the raffish and rebellious boys, rather than the quiet intellectuals in her classes. "They rode a bus a few stops and got off in the raffish suburb of Chelsea, a low-rent neighborhood of artists and writers." -- From Ken Follett's 2010 novel Fall of Giants
Definition	1 : marked by or suggestive of flashy vulgarity or crudeness 2 : marked by a careless unconventionality : rakish

Raff Riffraff Raffish Adjective Word Meaning Derived English