ratfink
/ˈɹætfɪŋk/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "The authors have facetiously labeled the contemplated musical as 'Ratfink', after the name of its central character, James J. Ratfink. Its title is not meant in a derogatory sense."
- "The film director accused him of being the worst kind of a rat fink (rat pack talk) for leaving a play so early."
- "The first factor is labeled the "Ratfink" factor. This factor consists only of items that measure whether a boy would give information to various adult figures if one of his friends were in trouble."
- "In my novella, "Our Lady of Desperation," a painter and civil servant square up to one another. […] One of the protagonists was an artist; so it was assumed I was somehow in his camp. In fact both are ratfinks; when thieves fall out, honest men, if they don't come into their dues, are at least afforded a wry smile."
- "You'd think that some rat-fink in the company would spill the beans and warn Mr. Wright, but nobody did. There wasn't much company loyalty at Nineveh Publishing."
- "He wasn't a gabber, nor a squawker not a ratfink nor a snitch. He wasn't a whistleblower. He wasn't a gossip. He didn't talk about someone behind their back. Banks knew that firsthand because he had tried on several occasions to get Quinley to talk about other people, and Quinley would never do it. He'd laugh and change the subject."
Etymology
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈɹætfɪŋk/
- British English: /ˈɹætfɪŋk/
Usage
- Canadian usage
- American usage
- Transitive verb