Meanings
- uncountableentertainmentA subgenre of reggae and dancehall influenced by hip hop and digital production techniques such as sampling.First known use 1980s
Fling a ragga riddim like it's '03
2019, Wiley et al, “Boasty”3 more examples
Tosh's brand of roots reggae, with its emphasis on uplifting anthems and melodic riffs, now sounds as dated as The Wailers' earliest incarnation as a straight-up ska band, especially when listened to alongside the shuddering bass of most contemporary ragga tracks.
1993 August, David Eimer, “Reel to Reel”, in The Wire, number 114, →ISSN, page 52The song samples Ricky Martin's hit Shake Your Bom-Bom but adds ragga's roughness. When Bam Bam comes on, the crowd goes wild.
2001 September 15, Christopher John Farley, “Music Goes Global”, in Time, →ISSNA sub-genre of reggae, ragga is a modern Jamaican sound with ties to the oldest traditional music of that island-nation. The name is taken from the word “raggamuffin”, a term used for disenfranchised youth. One popular ragga singer called Half Pint said, “A lot of people interpret raggamuffin as if it [is]^([sic]) a criminal morality.”
2016, Linda Dailey Paulson, “Ragga”, in Dave DiMartino, editor, Music in the 20th Century, volume 1, Routledge, →ISBN, page 514
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
Clipping of raggamuffin, variant of ragamuffin (“troublemaker”), influenced by reggae.
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
ragga. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ragga
“ragga.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ragga. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ragga,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ragga.
Source: ragga on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.