as in masses
people looked down upon as ignorant and of the lowest class
locals complained that rental housing would attract the ragtag and bobtail to their well-groomed suburb
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ragtag and bobtail
Noun
-
That same year, the federal government tasked the research group RAND to look at the WEA system's ability to reach the American public.—
Andrea Lucia,
CBS News,
22 Apr. 2026 -
One viral TikTok video shows a man approaching young adults and asking them to chug a BuzzBallz Biggie in public for $100.—
Andrea Margolis,
FOXNews.com,
22 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Barak was cognizant of how the Arab populace would perceive Israeli involvement.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
8 Apr. 2026
-
The Iranian regime is deeply unpopular with its populace.—
Arash Azizi,
The Atlantic,
4 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
All that loot pumped out of the Armenian proletariat, says the gaur, and for what.—
Sean Williams,
Harpers Magazine,
27 Jan. 2026
-
Severin, on the other hand, represents the revolutionary proletariat.—
JSTOR Daily,
JSTOR Daily,
16 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
How dare the lowly rabble at Fenway Park treat our esteemed mayor and governor with such disrespect!—
Joe Battenfeld,
Boston Herald,
7 Apr. 2026
-
There’s a rabble-rousing politician with grievances galore.—
Melissa Melvin-Rodriguez,
Charlotte Observer,
3 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
The three-block stretch, between 16th and 19th avenues, looks markedly different from just a year ago, when tents, abandoned cars and piles of trash crowded the street and sidewalks.—
Da Lin,
CBS News,
18 Apr. 2026
-
Issues cited by residents include drug use, trash and a man with an assault rifle.—
Ruben Vives,
Los Angeles Times,
17 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Game 1 was no contest, with Boston coasting to a 123-91 rout.—
Zack Cox,
Boston Herald,
19 Apr. 2026
-
The Rapids were riding a two-game winning streak and coming off a 6-2 rout of the Houston Dynamo.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
19 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Bathroom Refresh The bathroom collects moisture, soap scum and grime faster than almost any other room.—
Lauren Jarvis-Gibson,
Charlotte Observer,
21 Apr. 2026
-
To quickly eliminate soap scum, water splatters, and other glass messes, apply shaving cream all over the surface.—
Patricia Shannon,
Southern Living,
13 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Which is to say, the people in the streets weren’t riffraff running amok but activists with aims.—
Daniel Immerwahr,
New Yorker,
18 Aug. 2025
-
Sometimes Evie imagined the land, the world, the city around her as a cartoon neighborhood, the houses’ edges elastic like balloons, their walls filling up and bloating and then, all at once, popping: ejecting out the riffraff and trash in a huff.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
5 Aug. 2025
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Cite this Entry
“Ragtag and bobtail.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ragtag%20and%20bobtail. Accessed 24 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
