ragbag

English

Etymology

Compound of rag ‎ bag.

Noun

ragbag (plural ragbags)

1. A bag of rags and scraps.
2. (figurative) A collection containing a variety of miscellaneous things; a smorgasbord.

   Synonyms: grab bag, mixed bag; see also Thesaurus:hodgepodge

   • 2019 May 14, John Banville, “Colin Farrell Joins the League of High-Profile Narrators of ’A Portrait of the Artist’”, in The New York Times‎^[1], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-03-12:

     The pages that constitute "Anna Livia Plurabelle" are surely the most easily decipherable in that masterly and monstrous ragbag of a book.

   • 2020 August 4, Richard Conniff, “They may look goofy, but ostriches are nobody's fool”, in National Geographic‎^[2], Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Partners, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2 April 2023:

     In our ragbag of stereotypes, ostriches have thus become the quintessential dim-witted animals. Even the Bible says they're dumb, and bad parents too.

   • 2020 November 18, Paul Bigland, “New infrastructure and new rolling stock”, in Rail, page 49:

     Opposite, the Loram site contains a real ragbag of yellow, blue or rust-streaked kit whose appearance belies their importance in keeping the railways running.

3. (figurative, informal) A person (especially a woman) of unclean or untidy appearance.

   Near-synonym: ragtag

   Coordinate terms: bag lady, old bag, ragamuffin

   • 1969 March 31, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., Slaughterhouse-Five […] (A Seymour Lawrence Book), New York, N.Y.: Delacorte Press, →OCLC, page 71:

     Billy and the rest were wooed through gate after gate, and Billy saw his first Russian. The man was all alone in the night—a ragbag with a round, flat face that glowed like a radium dial.

Translations

collection of miscellaneous things — see hodgepodge

References

• “ragbag”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “ragbag, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.