Skip to main content
PlainSpell

rash

/ɹæʃ/adjective, noun

rash is an adjective meaning “Acting too quickly without considering the consequences and risks; not careful; hasty” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled R-A-S-H and has one syllable, and it appears 4.7 times per million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data).

What does rash mean?

adjective

  1. 1

    Acting too quickly without considering the consequences and risks; not careful; hasty.

    rash words spoken in the heat of debate

  2. 2

    archaicOf corn or other grains: so dry as to fall out of the ear with handling.

  3. 3

    obsoleterareRequiring swift action; pressing; urgent.

  4. 4

    obsoleterareTaking effect quickly and strongly; fast-acting.

noun

  1. 1

    An area of inflamed and irritated skin characterized by reddened spots that may be filled with fluid or pus. Also, preceded by a descriptive word (rare or obsolete), an illness characterized by a type of rash.

    He came out in a rash because of an allergy.

  2. 2

    An irregular distribution or sprinkling of objects resembling a rash (sense 1).

  3. 3

    An outbreak or surge in problems; a spate, string, or trend.

    There has been a rash of vandalism lately.

  4. 4

    Chiefly preceded by a descriptive word: a fabric with a smooth texture woven from silk, worsted, or a mixture of the two, intended as an inferior substitute for silk.

    cloth rash    silk rash

  5. 5

    obsoleteA soft crackling or rustling sound.

adverb

  1. 1

    archaicSynonym of rashly (“in a rash manner; hastily or without due consideration”).

verb

  1. 1

    ScotlandarchaicobsoleteTo forcefully move or push (someone or something) in a certain direction.

  2. 2

    ScotlandarchaicobsoleteTo break (something) forcefully; to smash.

  3. 3

    ScotlandarchaicobsoleteTo emit or issue (something) hastily.

  4. 4

    ScotlandarchaicobsoleterareUsually followed by up: to prepare (something) with haste; to cobble together, to improvise.

  5. 5

    ScotlandarchaicobsoleteTo move forcefully, hastily, or suddenly; to dash, to rush.

  6. 6

    ScotlandarchaicobsoleteTo fall heavily; to dash down.

  7. 7

    ScotlandarchaicobsoleteChiefly followed by against, at, or upon: To collide or hit.

  8. 8

    ScotlandarchaicobsoleteChiefly followed by away, down, off, out, etc.: to pluck, pull, or rip (something) violently.

  9. 9

    ScotlandarchaicobsoleteTo hack, slash, or slice (something).

  10. 10

    ScotlandarchaicobsoleterareChiefly followed by out: to scrape or scratch (something); to obliterate.

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

How do you pronounce rash?

  • US /ɹæʃ/

Rash has one syllable (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: En-us-rash.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of rash

  • rasher comparative
  • rashest superlative
  • more rash comparative
  • most rash superlative
  • rashes plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • rashing participle, present
  • rashed participle, past

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

How common is rash?

Rash appears 4.7 times per million words in written English, the 11,685th 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).

Rash in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchhâtif, impulsif (acting too quickly without considering the…), éruption, éruption cutanée, irritation (de la peau) (area of inflamed and irritated skin…), épidémie (outbreak or surge in problems)
Germanvoreilig, vorschnell (acting too quickly without considering the…), Ausschlag, Hautausschlag (area of inflamed and irritated skin…)
Portugueseimprudente, precipitado (acting too quickly without considering the…), erupção (area of inflamed and irritated skin…), surto (outbreak or surge in problems)
Spanishadelantado, arrojado (acting too quickly without considering the…), eflorescencia, sarpullido, urticaria, salpullido (area of inflamed and irritated skin…)

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 rash come from?

The adjective is derived from Middle English rash, rasch (“hasty, headstrong, rash”) [and other forms], probably from Old English *ræsċ (“rash”) (found in derivatives such as ræsċan (“to move rapidly; to flicker; to flash; to glitter; to quiver”), ræsċettan (“to crackle, sparkle”), etc.), from Proto-West Germanic *rask, *raskī, *rasku, from Proto-Germanic *raskaz, *raskuz, *raþskaz, *raþskuz (“rash; rapid”), from Proto-Indo-European *Hreth₂- (“to run, roll”). The Middle English word was probably influenced by the cognates listed below.

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