A person in tattered clothing; ragged and unkempt; a ragamuffin.
From 'tatter' + a fanciful suffix possibly imitating Italian names. First recorded in the 1600s, it takes something ordinary (being ragged) and makes it sound like a title of nobility.
This word makes being ragged sound ROYAL! A tatterdemalion isn't just scruffy — they sound like a character from a fairy tale! It's poverty wearing a crown. Even the word itself is beautifully dressed-up! 👑🧵
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