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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
Matt Grobar, Deadline, 5 Nov. 2025
Formed in Kalamazoo in the fall of 2000, Greensky were initially a ragtag outfit of college kids with an interest in bluegrass music.
—Garret K. Woodward, Rolling Stone, 4 Nov. 2025
That strategy didn't work during Guaido's coup in 2019, or when a ragtag group of mercenaries reportedly in communication with Trump officials tried again to overthrow Maduro the next year.
—Cybele Mayes-Osterman, USA Today, 30 Oct. 2025
The film follows a ragtag team of ghost hunters trying to stop the evil spirit Zuul.
—Keith Langston, PEOPLE, 27 Oct. 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 8 Nov. 2025.
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ragtag
adjective
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