Ragtag

adj, noun

adj, noun ·2 syllables ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1
A shabby, unkempt person.
"Near-synonym: ragbag"
2
disparaging terms for the common people wordnet

Adjective

1
Unkempt, shabby, or in a state of disrepair.
"He liked to wear an old ragtag coat that was so threadbare that he'd get sunburned through it."
2
Very diverse; having irregular and dissimilar components.
"The guerrillas were a ragtag band of local thugs, former soldiers, displaced farmers, and political idealists."

Synonyms

bedraggled decrepit drabble-tail jumbled motheaten motley

Example

"A ragtag group of anarchists is squatting in abandoned buildings in Boston."

Etymology

From earlier tag-rag and tag and rag, from rag + tag.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.