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English
Etymology
From riffraff + -y. First use appears c. 1850. See cite below.
Adjective
riff-raffy
- Synonym of riffraffish
1850, Sylvester Judd, Richard Edney and the Governor's Family, A Rusurban Tale, page 145:"Not Tunny and I," retorted the lady; "they are noisy, riffraffy, and smell of cowheel and codfish, - uncomfortable to polite minds, disrelishable to respectable society, and dangerous to genteel young ladies.
1962, Elwyn Brooks White (contributor), “The Talk Of The Town”, in The New Yorker, volume 38, page 29:Brunswick, always thinking ahead, kept improving the tone of bowling alleys, extending credit to potential bowling-alley proprietors, hiring architects and decorators to make sure the places wouldn't look riff-raffy.
1987, Bernard Sabath, You Caught Me Dancing, page 18:He was frettin' and fiddlin' over a new story 'bout that riff-raffy Huckleberry Finn.