as in crass
lacking in refinement or good taste
the dowager cringed at the thought of raffish tourists in rough boots tromping all over her Persian rugs
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Recent Examples of raffish
Three or four decades ago, the newspaperman was appealingly raffish—at once a bum who drank too much and a knight-errant who charged unafraid at social injustice, succored the weak, and crossed lances with the powerful and arrogant.
—
David Wingrave,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Oct. 2025
A little lowly courier work, yes, but nothing more raffish than that.
—
Anthony Lane,
New Yorker,
8 Sep. 2025
The banal village tunes that Mahler altered into sinister mock vulgarities—did these not recall the raffish klezmer bands, the wandering musicians who played at shtetl weddings?
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David Denby,
The Atlantic,
1 Apr. 2025
There’s an over-the-top and overdressed fish out of water (me), a raffish Englishmen homesick for Great Britain (my husband Aidan, who will be mortified to read any of this), and an ensemble of quirky characters.
—
Mosha Lundström Halbert,
Vogue,
20 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for raffish
David Wingrave,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Oct. 2025
A little lowly courier work, yes, but nothing more raffish than that.
—
Anthony Lane,
New Yorker,
8 Sep. 2025
The banal village tunes that Mahler altered into sinister mock vulgarities—did these not recall the raffish klezmer bands, the wandering musicians who played at shtetl weddings?
—
David Denby,
The Atlantic,
1 Apr. 2025
There’s an over-the-top and overdressed fish out of water (me), a raffish Englishmen homesick for Great Britain (my husband Aidan, who will be mortified to read any of this), and an ensemble of quirky characters.
—
Mosha Lundström Halbert,
Vogue,
20 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for raffish
Recent Examples of Synonyms for raffish
Adjective
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Like a more crass, animated Seinfeld, Rocko deals with the mundanities and absurdities of daily life.
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With the games having kicked off, the sport has shown its ineffable power to supplant crass and capitalistic overreach.
Adjective
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Sean Goode, a former Canton police sergeant who was working the night of John O'Keefe's death and testified during the first Karen Read trial, allegedly sent dozens of vulgar text messages, according to an independent investigation.
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Others were removed early on for vulgar or inappropriate comments, according to a PGA Tour source with knowledge of the events, with five spectators in total ejected from the tournament with six holes to go.
Adjective
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Due Amici brings Brooklyn roots and authenticity, right down to the counter service that’s not rude but not exactly warm.
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It’s widely considered rude and annoying when people cluster by the train doors if there are more people on the platform attempting to get on.
Adjective
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To create your own mix, use a combination of two parts potting soil and one part perlite or coarse sand to grow your spider plant in.
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The varying sizes of these tools suggest threads of different thicknesses, and that indicates both finer and coarser textiles, and likely the use of a range of raw materials.
Adjective
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Room-service delivery robots are already common in hotels across many large Chinese cities.
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The most common cat colors are orange, black, cream or gray, but cats can come in unique hues, such as chocolate or lilac.
Cite this Entry
“Raffish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/raffish. Accessed 6 Jul. 2026.
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