rakish

English

Etymology

rake (“man habituated to immoral conduct”) +‎ -ish.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɹeɪkɪʃ/

Adjective

rakish (comparative more rakish, superlative most rakish)

1. Dashingly, carelessly, or sportingly unconventional or stylish; jaunty; characterized by a devil-may-care unconventionality; having a somewhat disreputable quality or appearance.
   • 2007, Houston Chronicle, 6/8/2007

     the rakish Dennis Quaid, a Houston native who is moving to Texas in a couple of years and wants it to become "the new Hollywood."

2. (dated) Like a rake; dissolute; profligate.
   • 1853, Charles Dickens, Bleak House, ch. 14:

     The door was open, and the hall was blocked up by a grand piano, a harp, and several other musical instruments in cases, all in progress of removal, and all looking rakish in the daylight.

   • 1856 February, [Thomas Babington] Macaulay, “Oliver Goldsmith”, in T[homas] F[lower] E[llis], editor, The Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches of Lord Macaulay, new edition, London: Longman, Green, Reader, & Dyer, published 1871, →OCLC:

     The arduous task of converting a rakish lover.

Translations

dashingly stylish

• Finnish: rempseä (fi), rento (fi), railakas
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• French: négligé (fr)

like a rake

• Finnish: elosteleva
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• French: débauché (fr)

Anagrams

• Harkis, Kishar, Sakhir, Shakir, Shirak, rakhis, shikar, shikra