Rakehell
/ˈreɪkˌhɛl/noun
An immoral, dissolute man; a libertine.
Did you know?The word is a blend of “rake” and “hell,” and it was used in the 17th century for a wildly immoral man, making vice sound like a descent into damnation.
Etymological Timeline
Old English
OE
hraca
“throat; (later) the act of scraping or raking by association with rough, dragging motion”
Old English
OE
hel
“the underworld, the realm of the dead”
16th Century
English
rake
“to scrape or drag with a tool; later, to roam in a disorderly way”
17th Century
English
rakehell
“a dissolute, immoral man; a libertine”
Modern English
English
rakehell
“an old-fashioned term for a debauched or wildly immoral man”