Raffish

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /ˈɹæfɪʃ/

Definitions

1. Having a disreputable, rakish, or unconventionally stylish quality that suggests a lack of respectability or moral restraint
2. Characterized by a carefree, bohemian charm that combines reckless disregard for propriety with an appealingly dashing or roguish manner
3. Possessing an unprincipled yet attractive quality marked by negligent abandon and a certain jaunty, slightly scandalous allure

Etymology: Raffish began as a snobbish label for the lower orders. In the late eighteenth century, "raff" meant the lowest class of society, the rabble, and adding "-ish" gave the sense of looking or behaving like such people. The same "raff" survives in "riffraff," a compound in which the old meaning is still plainly visible. Over time the word's disapproval softened. Someone called raffish was no longer a member of the mob but a person with a dash of disreputable charm: slightly rakish, a little dishevelled, unconventional in dress or habit, and enjoying it. The sneer in the original sense faded into a kind of admiring amusement. The verb behind the noun is traced to Old French "raffer," meaning "to wear away," itself of Germanic origin and related to German "raffen," "to snatch." The English "raff" appears to have been a separate, later formation from that background, so the word's ancestry is more tangled than its neat -ish ending suggests.

Synonyms: rakish, dapper, jaunty, disreputable, unconventional

Antonyms: respectable, prim, proper, dignified, decorous