rakehell

adj
/ˈɹeɪkhɛl/UK

Etymology

From to rake (out) hell (“to search through hell thoroughly”), in the sense of a person so evil or immoral that they cannot be found in hell even after an extensive search: see rake (“to search through (thoroughly)”). Compare rakeshame.

Definitions

  1. Immoral

    Immoral; dissolute.

    • And farre away, amid their rakehell bands, / They spide a Lady left all succourlesse […].
    • I knew from the beginning that I would have to move fast to keep Minnie to myself. Kansas City was full of rakehell bachelors, all of whom I had to outcourt.
  2. A lewd or wanton person

    A lewd or wanton person; a debauchee; a rake.

    • It seldom doth happen, in any way of life, that a sluggard and a rakehell do not go together.
    • And indeed I believe the insolence of this creature will ruin her master at last, by driving away men of sobriety and business, and making the place a den of vagabonds and rakehells.
    • “It is some freak of that drunken rakehell,” said Albert, in a low voice, to his sister, who had crept out after him on tiptoe.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for rakehell. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA