ragged

adjective

rag·​ged ˈra-gəd 

1

: roughly unkempt

2

: having an irregular edge or outline

3

a

: torn or worn to tatters

b

: worn-out from stress and strain

ran herself ragged

4

: wearing tattered clothes

5

a

: straggly

b

: executed in an irregular or uneven manner

c

of a sound : harsh, dissonant

raggedly adverb

raggedness noun

Synonyms

• broken
• craggy
• jagged
• scraggly
• scraggy

Examples of ragged in a Sentence

a boy in ragged jeans

You look a little ragged—did you have a rough week?

Recent Examples on the Web

While rodents such as squirrels may chew small ragged marks on pumpkin skins, just one deer can eat most, if not all, of a large pumpkin in one visit. —Lauren Landers, Better Homes & Gardens, 26 Oct. 2024

Tucked at the base of a ridge of ragged, jagged bare rock and fringed by cattails, Ayer Lake is home for the endangered desert pupfish and the Gila topminnow. —Roger Naylor, The Arizona Republic, 26 Oct. 2024

The Magnificent 11 in Glasgow traces a ragged loop through 11 miles of nature reserves on the city’s south side. —Miles Howard, Outside Online, 17 Oct. 2024

At the ice sheet’s ragged edge, whatever snow had fallen during the winter had, by mid-July, long melted away, and there was only ice, which came in many shades, all of them gray. —Elizabeth Kolbert, The New Yorker, 7 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing ragged

• on the ragged edge
• ragged robin
• run (someone) ragged

Kids Definition

ragged

adjective

rag·​ged ˈrag-əd 

1

: having a rough or uneven edge or outline

ragged cliffs

2

a

: torn or worn to or as if to tatters

a ragged dress

b

: wearing tattered clothes

a ragged child

3

: done in an uneven way

a ragged performance

raggedly adverb

raggedness noun