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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.
Examples of ragtag in a Sentence
Fran Ruiz, Space.com, 7 Mar. 2025
This modest study of unlikely community found at the end of the world — or damn near close enough — gains a more mythic sweep as the island is faced with a perilous storm, expected to bring destructive flooding on a scale not seen in eons, and this ragtag crew must weather it together.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 20 Feb. 2025
After losing everything in a cryptocurrency scam, a ragtag team of vigilante Redditors attempt to kidnap the kingpin who screwed them over.
—Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 28 Feb. 2025
But the troupe—a ragtag team which also includes castmates Natasha Hodgson and Zoë Roberts, plus the writer-musician Felix Hagan—carried on.
—Juan A. Ramírez, Vogue, 14 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ragtag
Cite this Entry
“Ragtag.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ragtag. Accessed 18 Mar. 2025.
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ragtag
adjective
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