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Breaking Down Ragtag
Tag and rag was a relatively common expression in the 16th and 17th centuries, and it was often used pejoratively to refer to members of the lower classes of society. By the 18th century, the phrase had been expanded to ragtag and bobtail. That expression could mean either "the lower classes" or "the entire lot of something" (as opposed to just the more desirable parts—the entire unit of an army, for example, not just its more capable soldiers). Something described as ragtag and bobtail, then, was usually common and unspectacular. Ragtag and bobtail was eventually shortened to ragtag, the adjective we know today, which can describe an odd mixture that is often hastily assembled or second-rate.
Synonyms
Examples of ragtag in a Sentence
Christian Holub, EW.com, 26 Dec. 2024
The rebels were a fairly ragtag and disparate group of local men with a little external support, learning to be fighters.
—Ian Pannell, ABC News, 8 Dec. 2024
In trying to sell a film about a ragtag team of criminals kidnapping a powerful man’s daughter for ransom, the trailers gave away a key piece of information: The titular little girl is a vicious ballet-dancing vampire.
—Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 19 Dec. 2024
In Butch Wicked, a ragtag cabaret-style production consisting of songs from the musical performed by an all-butch cast, producer and actor Pearl Emerson keeps the force, but reverses the feminization.
—James Factora, Them, 13 Dec. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Ragtag.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ragtag. Accessed 15 Jan. 2025.
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ragtag
adjective
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