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ratchet

ratchet

5 9.9
Crude or flashy in a way that shows little taste
  • adjective
  • /ˈræʧɪt/
  • Offensive
: chabacano
  • My eyebrows are so ratchet today, guys.

Maybe raunchy rap, ratchet rap, women rap.

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Examples

  • This looks so ratchet, for lack of a better term.

  • She wore a ratchet outfit that looked out of place at the formal event.

  • I would say in public, I sometimes look so ratchet, like you will never see me looking that bad.

  • OK, so my future very ratchet looking self right now is coming at Geo to give you a quick update on this camera.

  • I'm a savage ratchet, bougie ratchet.

  • They've normalized the ratchet and they want us to think it's OK to be that.

  • His ratchet behavior at the party embarrassed his friends.

  • The movie was filled with ratchet jokes that many found distasteful.

Antonyms

165 4.1

Being elegant and stylish and showing good taste

refined
  • Formal
25 4.1

Showing elegant, polite manners and good taste

Compounds

A tool that turns screws one way when you press down, without lifting the tool

1 8.4

A hand tool that turns screws when you press its spiral handle down

A wheel with teeth that a small catch lets turn in one direction

How Refined

elegant
163 3.3
plain
180 1.0
tacky
  • Informal
76 4.3
ratchet
  • Offensive
5 9.9
vulgar
  • Offensive
52 6.5

Surface Forms

ratchet positive

Etymology

Ratchet in slang probably began as a changed form of the word wretched, which means 'very poor' or 'rough', and a helpful way to remember it is to think of something that looks or acts rough or low in style, so ratchet now means 'crude' or 'tasteless'.