Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🧸 A floppy toy 🤸 To flop loosely
to ragdoll

to ragdoll

8.9
To make a person or object fall limply, often in a video game
  • verb
  • /ˈræɡˌdɑl/
  • Jargon
translation icon : dejar caer
  • The physics engine made the character ragdoll realistically when it was hit by the explosion.

Examples

  • When the vehicle crashed, the passengers ragdolled in their seats, unable to brace for impact.

  • Because he ragdolled us.

    Don't Mess with Grandma (2024)

  • In the video game, I ragdolled my character after falling off the cliff.

Synonyms

to fling
vsto ragdoll
16 4.1

To move yourself suddenly and forcefully, often without control

causes limp, uncontrolled collapse emphasizing passive floppy motion

Antonyms

to stabilize
  • US
197 3.7

To make something steady so it stops moving or falling

How Forceful

fling
9 3.2
to ragdoll
  • Jargon
8.9
to shove
528 2.7
to push
∞ 1.0
to nudge
33 3.8
to tap
174 1.0

Surface Forms

ragdoll infinitive
ragdolled past
ragdolled past participle
ragdolling present participle
ragdolls third person singular

Etymology

Ragdoll as a verb comes from the image of a ragdoll toy: to 'ragdoll' someone is to make them fall or move limp and uncontrolled, like a cloth doll. That's why game makers talk about 'ragdoll physics' when characters flop realistically after being hit.