Raggle-taggle

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: en, /ˈɹaÉ¡(É™)ltaÉ¡(É™)l/

Origin

Alteration of rag-tag; see also -le.

Full definition of raggle-taggle

Adjective

1. Disorderly, in a messy or chaotic state; ragged.
• 1945, "Linked at Last", Time, 5 Feb 1945:The cocky little foot soldiers who had mopped up the north Burma jungle saw a knot of blue-grey, raggle-taggle men at the junction and wanted to fire on them.
• 2000, George RR Martin, A Storm of Swords, Bantam 2011, p. 574:The raggle-taggle host of freedmen dwarfed her own, but they were more burden than benefit.
• 2011, Simon Jenkins, The Guardian, 22 Mar 2011:The prime minister must know that the only way to achieve his stated goal is to topple Gaddafi, and his intelligence will have informed him that the raggle-taggle army in Benghazi cannot do it for him.