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Glite Dictionary
Rasta

Rasta

10 8.1
A person who follows a religion and way of life from Jamaica and often wears dreadlocks
  • noun
  • /ˈræstə/
: Rasta
  • Several of the left-leaning middle-class intellectuals who were sympathetic to the Rasta ethos have left the island in disgust at the unchanging social conditions.
  • Rasta reggae
  • Rasta version

Examples

  • The float was painted red, yellow, and green, Rasta colors like Gillian's bracelet.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • And I had met a kid in town, like a, like a Rasta from town, you know, who played guitar.

  • You could even move into the whole Rasta thing, if you wanted to.

    Fear of a Black Hat (1994)

  • - You gotta go, Rasta boy!

    Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins (2008)

  • Let me tell you something, Rasta.

    Cool Runnings (1993)

  • Come on, rasta man.

    My First Mister (2001)

  • Here, Rasta man...

    Mrs. Brown's Boys D'Movie (2014)

  • The driver is the young Rasta we saw earlier outside Ballato's driving Bruno and Andy.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • Gillian still had the Rasta bracelet around her wrist.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • A true Rasta embraces a lifestyle of peace and respect for all living beings.

Synonyms

Rastafarian
vsRasta
4 7.8

A person who follows a religion from Jamaica and believes Haile Selassie is holy

has identical meaning but is a shorter informal form

Surface Forms

Rasta singular
Rastas plural

Etymology

Rasta comes from Rastafari, the movement named after the Ethiopian leader Ras Tafari. The title Ras means 'head' or 'chief', so Rasta originally pointed to followers of that leader and now means a person who follows Rastafarian beliefs and culture.