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- an insulting way of referring to people of low social class or people who are not considered socially acceptableWe don't want to let all the riff-raff in.
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What does Riff Raff mean?
What does riffraff mean?
Is Riff-Raff a derogatory word?
Is riffraff a misspelling?
What does riff raft mean?
Does charging high prices keep riff raff out?
A group of disreputable people of low social position; the dregs of society. What's the origin of the phrase 'Riff-raff'? Any glance at any online bulletin board or newspaper letters column makes it pretty obvious that people love to call each other names.
There are eight meanings listed in OED's entry for the word riff-raff, one of which is labelled obsolete. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence. riff-raff is considered derogatory.
Riffraff (sometimes hyphenated—riff-raff) is a derogatory term for people the speaker considers socially inferior or undesirable. It’s a centuries-old term, having come to English from French around 1500. In modern use, the word is usually humorous or ironic.
If you refer to a group of people as riff-raff, you disapprove of them because you think they are not respectable.
What does the noun riff-raff mean? There are two meanings listed in OED's entry for the noun riff-raff . See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.
riff-raff. noun [ plural ] disapproving uk / ˈrɪf.ræf / us / ˈrɪf.ræf /. Add to word list. people with a bad reputation or of a low social class: She says that charging high prices will keep the riff-raff out. SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases. Class & class-consciousness in general. anti-bourgeois.
uncountable noun. If you refer to a group of people as riff-raff, you disapprove of them because you think they are not respectable. [disapproval] The riff-raff are less of a problem than the price for keeping them out.
