Tuesday word: Riffraff

[simplyn2deep]

Tuesday, Mar. 25, 2025

Riffraff (noun, adjective)
riffraff [ rif-raf ]

noun
1. people, or a group of people, regarded as disreputable or worthless: a pack of riffraff.
2. the lowest classes; rabble: the riffraff of the city.
3. trash; rubbish.

adjective
4. worthless, disreputable, or trashy.

See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com

Origin: 1425–75; late Middle English rif and raf every particle, things of small value < Old French rif et raf, formed on rifler to spoil ( rifle 2 ), raffler to ravage, snatch away

Example Sentences
He has some friends — acquaintances, really — whom he hates, mentally labeling them “the riffraff, the vulgarians, the slobs.”
From New York Times

She associated Georgia’s capital city with “crime” and “riffraff,” similar to how Trump once disparaged Atlanta as “crime infested” and “falling apart.”
From Seattle Times

Just before the riots he had also responded to a rowdy reception committee in one banlieue by calling them racaille - riffraff.
From BBC

Indeed, this “savage,” as Shakespeare took pains to note in his complicated depiction of Caliban, is a good deal more civilized than the drunken riffraff with whom he falls into cahoots.
From Los Angeles Times

“I’ve dealt with the riffraff on the street for 14 years so I know how to play that,” she said.
From Los Angeles Times