riggish

English

Etymology

From rig (“a wanton girl”) +‎ -ish.

Adjective

riggish (comparative more riggish, superlative most riggish)

  1. (archaic) Wanton; lewd; tomboyish.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)
    • William Shakespeare, "Antony and Cleopatra" (1606)
      "Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale Her infinite variety: other women cloy The appetites they feed: but she makes hungry
      Where most she satisfies; for vilest things Become themselves in her: that the holy priests Bless her when she is riggish."
    • Bishop Hall
      The wanton gesticulations of a virgin in a wild assembly of gallants warmed with wine, could be no other than riggish, and unmaidenly.
    • 2008, Sandra Gulland, Mistress of the Sun (page 126)
      “The matchmaker agrees that your having a position at Court will improve your chances, but she warned that you must be exceedingly careful of your reputation. Court society is known to be riggish.”


Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for riggish in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.)

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