Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Date "RIFF-RAFF" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1854. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Literature | Riff-raff The offscouring of society, or rather, "refuse and sweepings." Rief is Anglo-Saxon, and means a rag; Raff is also Anglo-Saxon, and means sweepings. (Danish, rips-raps.) The French have the expression "Avoir rifle et rafle," meaning to have everything; whence radoux (one who has everything), and the phrase "Il n'a laissé ni rif ni raf" (he has left nothing behind him). "I have neither ryff nor ruff [rag to cover me nor roof over my head]."- Sharp: Coventry Myst., p. 224. "Ilka man agayne his gud he gaffe That he had tane with ryfe and raffe. Quoted by Halliwell in his Archaic Dictionary. Source: Brewer's Dictionary. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Crosswords: RIFF-RAFF |
| Specialty definitions using "RIFF-RAFF": Prince's Peers ♦ Sans Culottides, SCUM. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Farce! Where are the bombers? Our reinforcements? This is the most important place in Germany, and what do we have to fight with? Old men, riff-raff, the sweepings from the road. (The Bridge at Remagen; writing credit: Roger O. Hirson; Richard Yates) I'm Riff-Raff Sam, the riffiest riff that ever riffed a raft! (Sahara Hare; writing credit: Warren Foster) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Riff-Raff (1990) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Theater & Movies | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| "RIFF-RAFF" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 66.67% of the time. "RIFF-RAFF" is used about 24 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 66.67% | 16 | 87,710 |
| Adjective (general or positive) | 20.83% | 5 | 157,705 |
| Noun (proper) | 12.5% | 3 | 202,518 |
| Total | 100.00% | 24 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| Language | Translations for "RIFF-RAFF"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Dutch | grauw (gray, grey, rabble), gespuis (rabble), geboefte (rabble), canaille (rabble). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Esperanto | kanajlaro (rabble). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Finnish | roskaväki (mob, rabble). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
German | Gesindel (rabble, rabbles, ragtag, riffraff, trash, vermins). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Icelandic | skríll (rabble), múgur (rabble). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Manx | riftanyn (mob, rabble). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | iff-raffray คนชั้นต่ำ. (various references) tầng lớp hạ lưu (raff). (various references) gwehilion (refuse, trash). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
Direct Anagrams: riffraff. | |
| Words within the letters "a-f-f-f-f-i-r-r" | |
-3 letters: friar. | |
-4 letters: fair, fiar, raff, riff. | |
-5 letters: aff, air, arf, far, fir, iff, ria, rif. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-f-f-f-f-i-r-r" | |
+1 letter: riffraffs. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Crosswords 3. Usage: Modern 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Usage Frequency 6. Translations: Modern 7. Anagrams 8. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
