Contextualizebeta

ratty

adj
/ˈɹæti/UK/ˈɹæti/US

Etymology

From rat + -y (suffix meaning ‘having the quality of’ forming adjective).

  1. derived from *Hreh₃d-✻ — “to scrape, scratch, gnaw”
  2. inherited from *rattaz✻
  3. inherited from *ratt✻
  4. inherited from rætt
  5. inherited from ratte
  6. suffixed as ratty — “rat + y”

Definitions

  1. Resembling or characteristic of a rat

    Resembling or characteristic of a rat; ratlike.

  2. Infested with rats.

  3. In poor condition or repair.

    • The Marcher lord was still clad in his ratty black cloak and dented breastplate with its chipped enamel lightning.
    • I was having exactly that thought on a ratty mock-leather couch in Islington.
  4. ›+ 3 more definitions

    1. Crazy, mad

      Crazy, mad; ridiculous; slightly strange, eccentric; also (followed by about, on, or over), attracted to, infatuated with.

    2. Annoyed, bad-tempered, irritable.

      • He got bad, he got ratty, he would take it out on people around him. He was mean when it turned against him.

    3. Synonym of knock down ginger (“prank of knocking on a front door and running away”).

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for ratty. 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