Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

riffraff

/ˈɹɪfɹæf/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.88 in modern English

Syllables: riff-raff
IPA: /ˈɹɪfɹæf/

20

Scrabble Score

8

Letters

2

Syllables

4

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

The rabble; crowds; people of a low, disreputable or undesirable class or position.

Derogatory; Informal; Uncountable

noun

Sweepings; refuse.

Informal; Uncountable

Example Sentences

"They started charging a modest fee in an effort to keep the riffraff out."
"Agent Beeman (Noah Emmerich): I think we got him. / Special Agent Gaad (Richard Thomas): Who? / Agent Beeman: I-I-I don't know. The guy who killed Chris, the--the Russians, the whole damn thing maybe. / Special Agent Gaad: You want to sit down? / Agent Beeman: The guy from the salvage yard who hocked the ring, and he does business with some riffraff from the projects."
"Mom: [Walks away with King Pridemoor.] / King Knight: 'MOM, WAIT! ..... MOM!! *SIGH* WELL, FINALLY, THE RIFF-RAFF... AND MY MOM, ARE GONE.'"

Etymology

From Old French rif et raf (“one and all”), of Germanic origin. The first word is from rifler (“to scrape off”) and the last is from raffler, related to rafler (“to plunder”).

Origin

Source language: Old French

Word Breakdown

Root: rif, -

Usage

Inflected Forms

riffraffs (plural) riff-raff (alternative)

Derived Forms

riffraffish

Phrases

riff-raffy

Frequently Paired Words

raffish

Synonyms

canaille commonality commonalty crowd commonage demos everyone general public great unhosed great unwashed herd hoi polloi

Questions

How do you pronounce riffraff?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈɹɪfɹæf/.
What does riffraff mean?: The rabble; crowds; people of a low, disreputable or undesirable class or position.
Where does riffraff come from?: It is traced to Old French.

How to pronounce riffraff

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “riffraff”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈɹɪfɹæf/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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