raffish, a.
(ˈræfɪʃ)
[f. raff n.1 + -ish.]
Disreputable, vulgar, low.
| 1801 Jane Austen Lett. (1884) I. 295 He is as raffish in his appearance as I would wish every disciple of Godwin to be. 1818 Blackw. Mag. III. 527 A raffish sort of a fellow calling himself Menippus. 1879 M. E. Braddon Clov. Foot xv. 130 An older man, of somewhat raffish aspect. |
| Comb. 1842 T. Martin My Namesake in Fraser's Mag. Dec., A raffish-looking youngster. |
Hence ˈraffishly adv., ˈraffishness.
| 1850 L. Hunt Autobiog. xx. (1860) 320 A fine head, but still a beggar. Some were of portentous raffishness. 1887 Spectator 5 Nov. 1513 There was nothing of the character of raffishness or Bohemianism in David Kennedy. 1897 Crockett Lads' Love xi. 116 Her water-can, raffishly a-dangle at her side. |
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Add: b. Careless of conventional morals or manners; attractively disreputable in appearance or behaviour; rakish.
| 1937 Harper's Mag. June 101/1 The raffish, free-for-all girl finds a devoted husband. 1958 Spectator 27 June 831/2 [He] displayed a certain raffish elegance in his long, dark jacket and dog-tooth trousers. 1962 I. Murdoch Unofficial Rose xxxvi. 343 Her soft peppery hair..was cut short in a neat yet raffish style about her beaming countenance. 1977 P. L. Fermor Time of Gifts 11, I moved..into older circles which were simultaneously more worldly, more bohemian and more raffish. 1985 N.Y. Times 17 Mar. ii. 4/2 Burgess (played by Alan Bates) is saucy, witty, a bit raffish of course, but above all still an Englishman. 1989 Observer (Colour Suppl.) 3 Sept. 24/1 Sag Harbor has a more raffish, agreeable, even faintly Bohemian air. |