This week’s theme
Tosspot words

This week’s words
catchall
pinchpenny
scrapegut
rakehell
do-all

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(RAYK-hel)

MEANING:

noun: A licentious or immoral person.

ETYMOLOGY:

By folk etymology from Middle English rakel (rash, hasty). Earliest documented use: 1547.

USAGE:

“The titular character, John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester, was a notorious rakehell as well as being a classically influenced, but principally obscene poet and playwright. He was repeatedly exiled from the court of Charles II for everything from abducting his future wife to vandalising a sundial, and died at the age of 33 from alcoholism and venereal disease.”
Ian Shuttleworth; Thoroughly Unlikeable, Highly Enjoyable; Financial Times (London, UK); Sep 29, 2016.

See more usage examples of rakehell in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: