rakish

adjective

ˈrā-kish How to pronounce rakish (audio)
Definition of rakishnext
as in corrupt
having or showing lowered moral character or standards within a few short years their rakish son had squandered the family fortune on hard liquor and fast cars

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of rakish His most famous early picture, of three rakish young farmers walking to a country dance in new hats, stiff suits, and too-big shoes, couldn’t have been a commission. — Max Norman, New Yorker, 21 May 2026 Nine years younger than Hepburn, Dotti was the fun-loving, rakish son of an aristocratic Italian family. — Hadley Hall Meares, Vanity Fair, 15 May 2026 Will the rakish Benedict Bridgerton find his perfect match? — Olivia Wakim, AJC.com, 24 Feb. 2026 The model was available as an elegant two-door sports saloon (slightly larger) or a more rakish two-door coupe. — Robert Ross, Robb Report, 30 Jan. 2026 See All Example Sentences for rakish
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rakish
  1. corrupt
  2. degraded
  3. sick
  4. dissolute
  5. crooked
  6. decadent
Adjective
  • Harry and the six other high-profile claimants failed to prove their allegations that the publisher unlawfully obtained private information through methods including private investigators, deception, phone hacking and corrupt payments.
    — Erin Hill, PEOPLE, 7 July 2026
  • After all, this was FIFA, the infamously corrupt governing body of international soccer that seems to function not based on its rulebook but on the whims of a few guys in a room.
    — Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 7 July 2026
Definition of corrupt
Adjective
  • Old potting soil may not only potentially harbor pests and diseases that will impact the health of your plants, but soil from previous seasons can become a bit degraded and drain too fast or too slowly for your plant's needs.
    — Lauren Landers, Better Homes & Gardens, 3 July 2026
  • Faster delivery with degraded quality just accelerates technical debt and erodes user trust.
    — Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 1 July 2026
Definition of degraded
Adjective
  • If a sick animal did end up at a slaughterhouse, the US Department of Agriculture’s thorough meat inspection system would very likely spot it, separate it from others and deem it US Suspect.
    — Jen Christensen, CNN Money, 5 July 2026
  • But when McGinley was a teen-ager, Michael became sick with AIDS and moved home to New Jersey.
    — Chris Wiley, New Yorker, 4 July 2026
Definition of sick
Adjective
  • His untimely death set the template for the doomed, dissolute musician.
    — David A. Graham, The Atlantic, 2 July 2026
  • First filmed before the pandemic and launched in its throes, a survivor of the era of streaming wars, corporate consolidation and Hollywood strikes, HBO’s addictively dissolute workplace drama remains as ambitious and authoritative as ever.
    — Matt Brennan, Los Angeles Times, 15 June 2026
Definition of dissolute
Adjective
  • Trump even played to this history in appealing for Balogun’s reinstatement, implying (without evidence) that the referee who made the call was crooked.
    — David A. Graham, The Atlantic, 6 July 2026
  • Better known among seasoned riders as the Triple Nickel, the route makes for one of the most crooked roads in the Midwest, if not the country.
    — Condé Nast Traveler, Condé Nast Traveler, 2 July 2026
Definition of crooked
Adjective
  • Vanilla wafer cookies provide a fun and unexpected crust that holds up decadent, creamy layers of chocolate and vanilla.
    — Mary Shannon Wells, Southern Living, 5 July 2026
  • The book-length poem, set at a private party, explores the decadent lifestyles associated with the movie industry in California in the 1920s.
    — Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 5 July 2026
Definition of decadent

Browse Nearby Words

raking up
rakish
rakishness
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Rakish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rakish. Accessed 14 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on rakish

Nglish: Translation of rakish for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of yaw

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 10
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
banana-mirrored
Contradictory Words Quiz Pick out which word means one thing…and the opp...
See All