ragamuffin
/ˈɹæɡəˌmʌfɪn/noun
ragamuffin is spelled R-A-G-A-M-U-F-F-I-N: 10 letters. It appears about once in every 10 million words in written English, the 95,993rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, ragamuffin means “A dirty, shabbily-clothed child; an urchin” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of ragamuffin is ragamuffins.
How many letters and syllables are in ragamuffin?
| Letters | 10: R-A-G-A-M-U-F-F-I-N |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 10 million words; the 95,993rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is ragamuffin?
Ragamuffin appears about once in every 10 million words in written English, the 95,993rd 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).
How do you pronounce ragamuffin?
- /ˈɹæɡəˌmʌfɪn/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-ragamuffin.ogg, En-au-ragamuffin.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of ragamuffin
- ragamuffins plural
- raggamuffin
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does ragamuffin mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A dirty, shabbily-clothed child; an urchin.
- 2
slangA hooligan or troublemaker.
- 3
Alternative letter-case form of Ragamuffin (“a breed of domestic cat”).
noun
- 1
A domestic cat of a particular heavy, muscular, short-necked breed.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Ragamuffin in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense dirty, shabbily-clothed child:
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 ragamuffin come from?
From the Middle English Ragamuffyn. Of uncertain origin, according to Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable: A muffin is a poor thing of a creature, a ‘regular muff’; so that a ragamuffin is a sorry creature in rags.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).