rat-licker

noun

A person who refuses to take preventative measures during a disease outbreak (especially the COVID-19 pandemic).

Meanings

nounrat-licker (plural rat-lickers)

plural rat-lickers

  1. derogatoryneologismA person who refuses to take preventative measures during a disease outbreak (especially the COVID-19 pandemic).

    > I'm the kind of person who prefers to stay indoors. good to know you ain't no rat-licker: [link to the Urban Dictionary entry for rat-licker]

    2020 August 17, Nikolai Kingsley, “Re: Find the edge of the 5km quarantine limit and stand on it”, in talk.bizarre (Usenet)
    2 more examples

    I think the solution to your dilemma is obvious. You need to go swap some hot, dank, virus-heavy air with an overly clingy group of rat lickers.

    2020 December 25, “The Luv Doc: An Established Tradition: It's really hard to stab someone to death with an icicle”, in The Austin Chronicle

    Less open-minded critics branded it a “rat licker rally” warning others to beware of the “tin foil hat brigade”. Meanwhile, the protesters themselves disputed whether they were demonstrating against the vaccine passport or the vaccine itself.

    2021 July 25, “Time to jab anti-vaxxers mass rallies”, in Sunday Mirror, London, page 12

Origin

From the urban myth that people in the Middle Ages licked rats to ward off the bubonic plague.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

rat-licker. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rat-licker

MLA

“rat-licker.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rat-licker. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “rat-licker,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rat-licker.

Source: rat-licker on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.