rakehell

See also: rake-hell

English

Alternative forms

• rake-hell

Etymology

From to rake (out) hell (“to search through hell thoroughly”), in the sense of a person so evil or immoral that they cannot be found in hell even after an extensive search: see rake (“to search through (thoroughly)”). Compare rakeshame.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈɹeɪkhɛl/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

Adjective

rakehell (comparative more rakehell, superlative most rakehell)

1. (archaic) Immoral; dissolute. [from 16th c.]
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto XI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

     And farre away, amid their rakehell bands, / They spide a Lady left all succourlesse […].

   • 1982, Roy Wilkins, Tom Mathews, Standing Fast: The Autobiography of Roy Wilkins - Volume 10, page 79:

     I knew from the beginning that I would have to move fast to keep Minnie to myself. Kansas City was full of rakehell bachelors, all of whom I had to outcourt.

Synonyms

• rakehelly

Noun

rakehell (plural rakehells)

1. (archaic) A lewd or wanton person; a debauchee; a rake. [from 16th c.]
   • a. 1678 (date written), Isaac Barrow, “(please specify the chapter name or sermon number). Of Industry in General”, in The Works of Dr. Isaac Barrow. […], volumes (please specify |volume=I to VII), London: A[braham] J[ohn] Valpy, […], published 1830–1831, →OCLC:

     It seldom doth happen, in any way of life, that a sluggard and a rakehell do not go together.

   • 1725, Daniel Defoe, Everybody's Business is Nobody's Business‎^[1]:

     And indeed I believe the insolence of this creature will ruin her master at last, by driving away men of sobriety and business, and making the place a den of vagabonds and rakehells.

   • 1826, [Walter Scott], chapter XXXII, in Woodstock; Or, The Cavalier. […], volumes (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, →OCLC:

     “It is some freak of that drunken rakehell,” said Albert, in a low voice, to his sister, who had crept out after him on tiptoe.

   • c. 1906, Arthur Conan Doyle, Through the Magic Door‎^[2]:

     A fat little bookseller in the City, a rakehell wit of noble blood, and a rugged Scotch surgeon from the navy— […]

   • 1976 December 25, Robert Chesley, “New York's "Nightingale" Does No Justice to Williams' Play”, in Gay Community News, volume 4, number 26, page 16:

     […] is a spinsterish and prudish woman, losing her youth, who becomes aware of her strongly sensual nature and in desperation has the courage to act on her sexual impulses; she offers herself to the young doctor next door, John Buchanan, whom she has loved since she was a schoolgirl. Ironically, John, who at the beginning of the play is a young rakehell, has moved in the opposite direction, and has become intent on leading a respectable and conventional life by the time Alma approaches him openly.

Further reading

• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “rakehell”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
• [Francis] Grose [et al.] (1811) “RAKE, RAKEHELL, OR RAKESHAME”, in Lexicon Balatronicum. A Dictionary of Buckish Slang, University Wit, and Pickpocket Eloquence. […], London: […] C. Chappell, […], →OCLC.

Anagrams

• hell-rake, larkheel