ragamuffin means A dirty, shabbily-clothed child; an urchin. It carries an Arena rating of 1638, earned across 11 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, ragamuffin ranks #460 of 17,126 for Most Satisfying to Say, #721 of 17,127 for Most Vivid Words, #1,749 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #2,103 of 17,140 for Most Whimsical Words.
ragamuffin is pronounced /ˈɹæɡəˌmʌfɪn/.
Why “ragamuffin” is a great word
A person, especially a child, who is dressed in dirty, ragged, or tattered clothing. From Middle English *Ragamuffyn* (as a surname, 1344), likely a fanciful extension of Middle English *raggi* ("ragged") with the suffix *-muffin*, of obscure origin but perhaps used pejoratively (as in "a poor creature, a muff"). Unlike "urchin," which implies a streetwise, mischievous roguishness, or "tatterdemalion," which is archaic, literary, and ageless, "ragamuffin" keeps its eye on the costume rather than the character, carrying a thread of rough affection. It is the child with trousers torn at both knees, trailing a shoelace through autumn leaves; the girl whose pinafore has been handed down through three sisters, fading from navy to grey; the universal figure of poverty rendered harmless by youth and resilience. The word knows that rags are temporary, that muffins rise, and that dirt washes off.
Etymology
From the Middle English Ragamuffyn. Of uncertain origin, according to Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable: A muffin is a poor thing of a creature, a ‘regular muff’; so that a ragamuffin is a sorry creature in rags.
noun
- A dirty, shabbily-clothed child; an urchin.e.g.“I haue led my rag of Muffins where they are pepper'd: there's not three of my 150 left aliue; and they for the Townes end, to beg during life.” — c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and E
- A hooligan or troublemaker.
- A domestic cat of a particular heavy, muscular, short-necked breed.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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