riffraff
riff·raff/ˈɹɪfɹæf/noun
riffraff is spelled R-I-F-F-R-A-F-F: 8 letters and 2 syllables (riff·raff). It appears about once in every 13 million words in written English, the 109,062nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a derogatory noun, riffraff means “The rabble; crowds; people of a low, disreputable or undesirable class or position” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of riffraff is riffraffs.
How many letters and syllables are in riffraff?
| Letters | 8: R-I-F-F-R-A-F-F |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: riff·raff |
| In writing | about once in every 13 million words; the 109,062nd 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 riffraff?
Riffraff appears about once in every 13 million words in written English, the 109,062nd 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 riffraff?
- /ˈɹɪfɹæf/
Riffraff has 2 syllables, split riff·raff in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-riffraff.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of riffraff
- riffraffs plural
- riff-raff
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does riffraff mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
derogatoryinformalThe rabble; crowds; people of a low, disreputable or undesirable class or position.
They started charging a modest fee in an effort to keep the riffraff out.
- 2
informalSweepings; refuse.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Riffraff in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense the rabble:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | racaille, populace, canaille, plèbe, masses, tout-venant |
| German | Pöbel, Plebs, gemeines Volk |
| Portuguese | gentalha, ralé |
| Spanish | gentuza, gentualla, flaite, chusma, gente de baja estofa, gleba |
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 riffraff come from?
From Old French rif et raf (“one and all”), of Germanic origin. The first word is from rifler (“to scrape off”) and the last is from raffler, related to rafler (“to plunder”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).