raggle-taggle
Unkempt and disorderly
Raggle-taggle describes something or someone untidy, ragged, or motley in appearance—suggesting a disreputable or bohemian quality.
The word appears most famously in the folk ballad "The Raggle Taggle Gypsies," where a lady abandons her lord to run off with wandering travelers: a raggle-taggle band of musicians.
The variant ragtag carries similar meaning but without the romantic overtones.
Untidy in appearance
- tousledDisordered, especially hair
- scruffyMessily neglected in appearance
- bedraggledWet, dirty, untidy
- untidyLacking neatness or order
messy · shabby · tattered · frayed · rumpled · windswept · straggly · tangled
Homeless, aimless wanderer
- wandererRootless, roving person
- gypsyItinerant free spirit
- nomadHomeless wanderer by choice
- drifterAimless, rootless traveler
rover · troubadour · minstrel · busker · traveller · itinerant · rambler · wayfarer
Ruined through neglect
- ricketyUnsteady, liable to collapse
- dilapidatedRuined through neglect
- decrepitWorn by age
- shabbyWorn and neglected
rundown · crumbling · makeshift · cobbled-together · patched-up · jerry-built · tottering · shambolic
unkempt
Untidy in appearance
- tousledDisordered, especially hair
- scruffyMessily neglected in appearance
- bedraggledWet, dirty, untidy
untidy · messy · shabby · tattered · frayed · rumpled · windswept · straggly · tangled · matted
vagabond
Homeless, aimless wanderer
drifter · rover · troubadour · minstrel · busker · traveller · itinerant · rambler · wayfarer · roamer
tumbledown
Ruined through neglect
- ricketyUnsteady, liable to collapse
- dilapidatedRuined through neglect
- decrepitWorn by age
shabby · rundown · crumbling · makeshift · cobbled-together · patched-up · jerry-built · tottering · shambolic · slapdash
raggle-taggleneat
Orderly, or undiluted
tidy · orderly · uniform · well-groomed · immaculate
raggle-tagglerespectable
Worthy of regard
conventional · established · bourgeois · proper · genteel
ragged, tagged, tagging, tatters, tatter, ragbag, ragamuffin, ragtag, tagalong