Word of the Day

Thursday, February 15, 2007

raffish

\RAF-ish\ , adjective;

Characterized by or suggestive of flashy vulgarity, crudeness, or rowdiness; tawdry.

Marked by a carefree unconventionality or disreputableness; rakish.

Quotes:

The speaker was in his forties, an attractive-looking man with a black eye patch that gave him the raffish look of an amiable pirate.

-- Sidney Sheldon, The Best Laid Plans

Sometimes we would go to the Gargoyle Club, . . . but it was too full of raffish upper-class drunks for my taste.

-- John Richardson, The Sorcerer's Apprentice

We are told about Bacon's taste for raffish, lower-class lovers, his penchant for gambling and his almost complete disregard for money.

-- Michiko Kakutani, "Portrait of a Portraitist of a Century's Horrors", New York Times, December 14, 1993

Origin:

Raffish derives from the noun raff (chiefly used in the compound or duplicate, riffraff), meaning "people of a low reputation."