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ragged

/ˈɹæɡɪd/adjective, verb

ragged is an adjective meaning “In tatters, having the texture broken” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled R-A-G-G-E-D and has 2 syllables, and it appears 1.5 times per million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data).

What does ragged mean?

adjective

  1. 1

    In tatters, having the texture broken.

    a ragged coat

  2. 2

    Having rough edges; jagged or uneven

    ragged rocks

  3. 3

    Harsh-sounding; having an unpleasant noise

  4. 4

    Wearing tattered clothes.

    a ragged person

  5. 5

    Rough; shaggy; rugged.

  6. 6

    Faulty; lacking in skill, reliability, or organization.

  7. 7

    Performed in a syncopated manner, especially in ragtime.

  8. 8

    Of a data structure: having uneven levels.

    a ragged hierarchy

verb

  1. 1

    simple past and past participle of rag (a form of rag)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you pronounce ragged?

  • /ˈɹæɡɪd/

As a verb: /ɹæɡd/.

Ragged has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-ragged_(adj).wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-ragged_(verb).wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of ragged

  • more ragged comparative
  • most ragged superlative

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How common is ragged?

Ragged appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 22,651st most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

Ragged in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchen lambeaux, déguenillé (rent or worn into tatters, or till the texture…), enguenillé (wearing tattered clothes)
Portugueseesfarrapado (rent or worn into tatters, or till the texture…)
Spanishandrajoso, ajado (rent or worn into tatters, or till the texture…), harapiento, trapajoso, haraposo (wearing tattered clothes)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does ragged come from?

From Middle English ragged, from North Germanic. Compare with Old Norse rǫgvaðr (“tufted”) and Norwegian ragget (“shaggy”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).