Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A shabbily clothed, dirty child.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The name of a demon.
- n. An idle, worthless fellow; a vagabond; now, especially, a disreputably ragged or slovenly person: formerly used as a general term of reprehension.
- n. A titmouse: same as mufflin.
- Base; beggarly; ragged or disorderly.
Wiktionary
- n. A dirty, shabbily-clothed child; an urchin.
- n. : A muffin is a poor thing of a creature, a 'regular muff'; so that a ragamuffin is a sorry creature in rags.
- n. A breed of domestic cat which is an off shoot from the Ragdoll.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A paltry or disreputable fellow; a mean wretch.
- n. A person who wears ragged clothing.
- n. The long-tailed titmouse.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a dirty shabbily clothed urchin
Etymologies
- Middle English Ragamuffyn, a personal name : probably raggi, ragged (from ragge, rag; see rag1) + Middle Dutch moffel, muffe, mitten; see muff2.
Examples
“But be quick, now, and play up, or I 'll drive that ragamuffin from the church grounds in disgrace and by force!”
“The word ragamuffin, "he adds, with characteristic determination to be exact,”
“She approached the girl, who Ziman says looked like a "ragamuffin" with dreadlocks and a caked face.”
“Rico, whose real name is Salvatore Aloisi, is a dance-hall "ragamuffin," a reggae-style "toaster" or "chatter," spinning intricate rhymes over bass-heavy rhythms.”
“The 'ragamuffin' always speaks of his enemies with courtesy, and the filibusters love their leader," was her pointed rejoinder.”
“Then he is known as the "ragamuffin," on account of his covering of rags.”
“The word "ragamuffin," which I have used above, does not accurately express the man, because there is a sort of shadow or delusion of respectability about him, and a sobriety too, and a kind of decency in his groggy and red-nosed destitution.”
“i like the 'ragamuffin' comment! that's hilarious and i couldn't agree more, the rotation last year was piss poor and good riddance to all of them!!”
“Now Fort o 'Good Hope is a far journey to the north, over and beyond the Circle, in a place where the feet of few men have trod; and when a nondescript ragamuffin comes in out of the night, from nowhere in particular, to sit by one's fire and discourse on such in terms of "trapsing" and "a little run," it is fair time to rouse up and shake off the dream.”
“The ragamuffin had the ring off her finger and was about to slip it into his own pocket.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘ragamuffin’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4084 more...
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old timey talk
Words or Sayings from the 1920's or whatever that no one really uses anymore (at least in that context).
scram, bearcat, heavens to betsy, dick, double-cross, ducky, gams, goofy, hooch, jalopy, john, joe and 174 more...
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Here I Dreamt I Was An Archetype
one-horse town, freckle-faced gir..., evil vizier, hardboiled detective, dark alleyway, jolly fat man, spandex-clad supe..., noble swordsman, grey-bearded mentor, redshirt, absent-minded pro..., funny animal and 72 more...
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essbunny@gmail.com's list
Intrigued by these words...
sphincter, blush, flume, shingle, spurt, pulp, precious, squeal, zest, zeal, cherish, fervor and 35 more...
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JimboBaggins's list
paraphenalia
haberdashery, desideratum, esoteric, retribution, retrograde, tetrahedron, iridescent, tentative, siphon, soothsayer, wanderlust, patina and 16 more...
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Moi and toi
vagrant, beachcomber, banshee, poltergeist, nomadic, roguish, mirthful, impish, urchin, ragamuffin
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Dusty Pejoratives
landlubber, blatherskite, hangdog, spurious, flibbertigibbet, ragamuffin, cumberground

ruzuzu I've heard ragamuffins are more melodic than fufluns. Oct 17, 2011
hernesheir "I have led my ragamuffins where they are peppered: there's not three of my hundred and fifty left alive, and they are for the town's end, to beg during life."
Shakespeare, King Henry IV, Part I,iv. iii. Line 36 Sep 24, 2009
sakhalinskii An aspiring rudeboy. Jul 30, 2008