as in hobo
somewhat old-fashioned
a child who is dressed in rags and is usually dirty and poor
a group of barefoot ragamuffins playing in the street
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Recent Examples of ragamuffin
Soon enough, Curtis’s all-black border collie, Steve, and a ragamuffin of a dog, Jack, would emerge from the trees to beg for sandwich scraps.
—
Carrie Dennis, Travel + Leisure, 14 June 2025
Playing out on a New Orleans street set designed more or less as a cartoon by David Rockwell, its pirates costumed by Linda Cho in ragamuffin seafaring garb that nonetheless allows for the odd pleasing splash of color, Pirates!
—Greg Evans, Deadline, 24 Apr. 2025
The former royal highness will be too busy leading the Resistance, alongside Jonathan and his ragamuffin group of bandits, to fight off all of the Queen’s men.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 19 Mar. 2025
And the best way to clear a driveway piled with snow is to hire some neighborhood ragamuffins with snow shovels, pay them some cash, and give them a belt of hot chocolate.
—Steven Levy, WIRED, 5 Apr. 2024
The young ragamuffin helped turn corrido tumbado into a global chart-topper (and moneymaker) and proved that Latin American artists don’t have to compromise to reach that level of acclaim.
—Pitchfork, 13 Dec. 2023
The Moser family — Lubo, his wife and three cheerfully ragamuffin little kids — are a troupe of travelling performers who earn their keep putting on shows in the local towns.
—Jessica Kiang, Variety, 7 Sep. 2023
The reunion between ragamuffin Georgie and boyish Jason also recalls Peter Bogdanovich’s Paper Moon from 50 years ago, a movie set during the Great Depression, an exercise in nostalgia.
—Armond White, National Review, 30 Aug. 2023
Then there is the rest of the ragamuffin roster that was picked to finish seventh in the Big 12, a conference so prestigious that its most noteworthy programs — Oklahoma and Texas — can’t wait to leave.
—Billy Witz Sasha Portis, New York Times, 31 Dec. 2022
Carrie Dennis, Travel + Leisure, 14 June 2025
Playing out on a New Orleans street set designed more or less as a cartoon by David Rockwell, its pirates costumed by Linda Cho in ragamuffin seafaring garb that nonetheless allows for the odd pleasing splash of color, Pirates!
—Greg Evans, Deadline, 24 Apr. 2025
The former royal highness will be too busy leading the Resistance, alongside Jonathan and his ragamuffin group of bandits, to fight off all of the Queen’s men.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 19 Mar. 2025
And the best way to clear a driveway piled with snow is to hire some neighborhood ragamuffins with snow shovels, pay them some cash, and give them a belt of hot chocolate.
—Steven Levy, WIRED, 5 Apr. 2024
The young ragamuffin helped turn corrido tumbado into a global chart-topper (and moneymaker) and proved that Latin American artists don’t have to compromise to reach that level of acclaim.
—Pitchfork, 13 Dec. 2023
The Moser family — Lubo, his wife and three cheerfully ragamuffin little kids — are a troupe of travelling performers who earn their keep putting on shows in the local towns.
—Jessica Kiang, Variety, 7 Sep. 2023
The reunion between ragamuffin Georgie and boyish Jason also recalls Peter Bogdanovich’s Paper Moon from 50 years ago, a movie set during the Great Depression, an exercise in nostalgia.
—Armond White, National Review, 30 Aug. 2023
Then there is the rest of the ragamuffin roster that was picked to finish seventh in the Big 12, a conference so prestigious that its most noteworthy programs — Oklahoma and Texas — can’t wait to leave.
—Billy Witz Sasha Portis, New York Times, 31 Dec. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ragamuffin
Noun
-
Head over to Quince to order the designer lookalike hobo bag, or keep scrolling to shop more luxurious handbags from the brand.—
Megan Schaltegger,
InStyle,
21 Feb. 2026
-
The hobo bag has been popular with several brands over the past few seasons.—
Kathleen Walsh,
Glamour,
7 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Hollywood turned him into a beggar.—
Lili Anolik,
Vanity Fair,
12 Jan. 2026
-
In the old days beggars were drawn and quartered in that square.—
George Packer,
The Atlantic,
6 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
The scene inspired future comedy gags showing drifters and tramps losing their pants to dogs chasing them.—
Mike Barnes,
HollywoodReporter,
29 Jan. 2026
-
Told in a lingua franca of philosophy and academic jargon, Lucky’s speech has something to do with the collapse of reason and logic, and the futility of human progress, which is ultimately what tramps Estragon (Reeves) and Vladimir (Winter) are up against, too.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
17 Dec. 2025
Noun
-
Even after so long, Camilla was still moved at the sight of her, so graceful and petite, with that thin, waif-like face.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
22 Jan. 2026
-
Cleverbot veers from sounding like a winsome waif to coming across as a drunk, smart-alecky fifteen-year-old who talks in non sequiturs.—
Patricia Marx,
New Yorker,
8 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
She will soon be joined on these windy cardio workouts by a scruffy urchin named Heathcliff (Owen Cooper), whom her father brings home one day.—
Justin Chang,
New Yorker,
9 Feb. 2026
-
In Victorious Cupid, Caravaggio demolished Renaissance ideals of the chubby, celestial putto by depicting a young god with the body of an Adonis and the face and feet of a cheeky street urchin.—
Tobias Grey,
Air Mail,
27 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Ragamuffin.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ragamuffin. Accessed 28 Feb. 2026.
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