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
-
From oversized, slouchy hobos to structured East-West silhouettes and laptop-ready work totes, this season’s best suede bags deliver a luxurious polish that will elevate every fall wardrobe.—
Lauren Alexis Fisher,
Footwear News,
3 Sep. 2025
-
On May 3, she was seen toting around the brand's slouchy black hobo bag with gunmetal hardware before switching to one of their smaller shoulder bags for a concert later that night.—
Emily Tannenbaum,
Glamour,
30 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
Got a lot of mountains to climb, had to leave some beggars behind.—
Ilana Kaplan,
PEOPLE,
5 Sep. 2025
-
Indeed, the beauty of New Orleans proper was found in its colorful variety of humans—the loons and cons, the beggars and peddlers.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
In Commonweal a Berrigan brother wrote from jail of the hopeful solidarity among his Black cellmates; Catholic Worker newspapers, their cheap ink faded by an afternoon of sunlight, described finding Christ among tramps on the breadline and exhorted readers to join Him.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
19 Aug. 2025
-
Daniels’ first foray into the horror genre shot to No. 1 on Netflix after dropping Aug. 30, which may have a little bit — or a whole lot — to do with Close, who clearly had the time of her life playing a tramp named Alberta.—
Lynette Rice,
Deadline,
2 Sep. 2024
Noun
-
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
-
His socialite wife, Margo (Malin Akerman), quickly takes Sophie under her wing, introducing the wide-eyed waif to her gaggle of girlfriends, including Jill (Katie Lowes), the wife of the megachurch’s reverend, and Callie (Jaime Ray Newman), the sheriff’s wife.—
Melissa Locker,
Time,
23 July 2025
Noun
-
The lobster potentially lives on the urchin as a mimicry behavior, when one organism mimics the physical appearance of another for protection or other benefits.—
Irene Wright,
Miami Herald,
6 Aug. 2025
-
According to the team, an increase in the presence of sunflower sea stars, either natural or artificial, may help kelp forests by deterring urchins, without requiring divers manually remove urchins.—
Laura Baisas,
Popular Science,
30 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Ragamuffin.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ragamuffin. Accessed 13 Sep. 2025.
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