ragged
pronunciation
How to pronounce ragged in British English:
UK [ˈræɡɪd]
How to pronounce ragged in American English:
US [ˈræɡɪd]
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- Adjective:
- being or dressed in clothes that are worn or torn
- worn out from stress or strain
- having an irregular outline
Word Origin
- ragged (adj.)
- "rough, shaggy," c. 1300, past participle adjective as though from a verb form of rag (n.). Compare Latin pannosus "ragged, wrinkly," from pannus "piece of cloth." But the word might reflect a broader, older meaning; perhaps from or reinforced by Old Norse raggaðr "shaggy," via Old English raggig "shaggy, bristly, rough" (which, Barnhart writes, "was almost surely developed from Scandinavian"). Of clothes, early 14c.; of persons, late 14c. To run (someone) ragged is from 1915. Related: Raggedly; raggedness.
Example
- 1. Beautiful though it may be , this is italy 's ragged edge .
- 2. The war department could wait . The three ragged black men waiting outside were a more pressing matter .
- 3. A year ago , soldiers at the head of mali 's ragged armyoverthrew an elected government .
- 4. Ms. song worked on the computer to clean up ragged edges and smooth out crinkled imperfections .
- 5. No longer ragged guerrillas , the vietminh by the early 1950s were armed by the chinese with the latest weaponry .