ragamuffin

American  

[rag-uh-muhf-in] / ˈræg əˌmʌf ɪn /

noun

1. a ragged, disreputable person; tatterdemalion.

2. a child in ragged, ill-fitting, dirty clothes.

   Synonyms:

   guttersnipe, urchin, waif

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ragamuffin British  

/ ˈræɡəˌmʌfɪn /

noun

1. a ragged unkempt person, esp a child

2. another name for ragga

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Etymology

Origin of ragamuffin

1350–1400; Middle English Ragamoffyn, name of a demon in the poem Piers Plowman

Example Sentences

How this riff-drunk ragamuffin, who turns 82 on Dec. 18, not only survived but stayed relevant is a mystery, a puzzle wrapped inside a guitar string.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 11, 2025

To some, he was a rollicking drifter in ragamuffin punk tatters.

From BBC • Dec. 2, 2023

It was the late 1970s, punk was sliding into new wave, and Leonard and her friends, including the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, were, by Leonard’s account, “wild little ragamuffin children.”

From New York Times • Oct. 11, 2022

Now, decades later, Miller Berg has the reins to showcase a similar aesthetic across a broader range of sports, seeking out what she calls “rough-around-the-edges, ragamuffin, cool women.”

From Seattle Times • May 6, 2022

Babci sat at her kitchen table, wearing one of my grandfather’s old dress shirts, her hair half up and half down, the picture of a ragamuffin.

From "Not Nothing" by Gayle Forman