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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
Lior Soroka, Washington Post, 22 June 2024
So the Russians cruised two of their sophisticated naval warships down the coast of Florida and into a Cuban port last week and there’s no sign of our ragtag Florida Guard.
—Letters To The Editor, Orlando Sentinel, 18 June 2024
Part of the movie’s appeal is the infectious camaraderie of its ragtag crew of storm chasers (including two played by Philip Seymour Hoffman and Alan Ruck).
—Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 14 June 2024
And that’s the real lynchpin line of the week, reverberating across the skyline and laying bare the immediate fate of everyone in our ragtag Vice crew.
—Andy Andersen, Vulture, 15 Feb. 2024
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“Ragtag.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ragtag. Accessed 4 Jul. 2024.
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ragtag
adjective
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