Meanings
plural ragged robins · alternative ragged robbin · alternative ragged-robin
- UKA type of wild campion (Silene flos-cuculi, syn. Lychnis flos-cuculi), in the family Caryophyllaceae, which grows across Europe and has pink flowers.
Paul came back and threaded daisies in her jet black hair, big spangles of white and yellow, and just a pink touch of ragged robbin.
1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “chapter 6”, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC1 more example
He had a suit of summer mufti, and a broad-brimmed blue beaver hat looped with leaves broken from the hedgerows in the lanes, and a Leander scarf tucked full of flowers: loosestrife, meadowrue, orchis, ragged-robin.
1919,Ronald Firbank, Valmouth, Duckworth, hardback edition, page 91
Synonyms & antonyms
nouncommon perennial native to Europe and western Asia having usually pink flowers with ragged petals
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From ragged + robin, probably because of the untidy appearance of its petals.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian свиларка
- свиларка (svilarka)Translations
French œillet des prés
- œillet des présTranslations
German Kuckucksblume, Kuckuckslichtnelke
- KuckucksblumeTranslations
- KuckuckslichtnelkeTranslations
Cite this entry
ragged robin. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ragged%20robin
“ragged robin.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ragged%20robin. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ragged robin,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ragged%20robin.
Source: ragged robin on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.