rash.
Acting too quickly without considering the consequences and risks; not careful; hasty.
Meaning & usage
Acting too quickly without considering the consequences and risks; not careful; hasty.
rash words spoken in the heat of debate
Of corn or other grains: so dry as to fall out of the ear with handling.
Requiring swift action; pressing; urgent.
Taking effect quickly and strongly; fast-acting.
Where this word comes from
The adjective is derived from Middle English rash, rasch (“hasty, headstrong, rash”) [and other forms], probably from Old English *ræsċ (“rash”) (found in derivatives such as ræsċan (“to move rapidly; to flicker; to flash; to glitter; to quiver”), ræsċettan (“to crackle, sparkle”), etc.), from Proto-West Germanic *rask, *raskī, *rasku, from Proto-Germanic *raskaz, *raskuz, *raþskaz, *raþskuz (“rash; rapid”), from Proto-Indo-European *Hreth₂- (“to run, roll”). The Middle English word was probably influenced by the cognates listed below. The adverb is derived from Middle English rashe (“quickly, rapidly”), from rash, rasch (adjective) (see above). Cognates * Dutch ras, rasch (“rash”) * Middle Low German rasch (“rash”) * Old Danish rask (“agile, nimble; fast; healthy, vigorous”) (modern Danish rask (“agile, nimble; fast; healthy, vigorous; hasty, rash”)) * Old High German reski (“impetuous, rash”) (Middle High German rasch, resch (“agile, nimble; fast; lively; healthy, vigorous”), modern German rasch, räsch, resch (“agile, nimble; fast; hasty, rash; healthy, vigorous; of food: crisp, crusty”)) * Old Norse rǫskr (“brave; healthy, vigorous”) (Icelandic röskur (“strong; healthy, vigorous”)) * Old Swedish rasker (“agile, nimble; brave; fast; vigorous”) (modern Swedish rask (“agile, nimble; fast; healthy, vigorous”))
Synonym of rashly (“in a rash manner; hastily or without due consideration”).
Where this word comes from
The adjective is derived from Middle English rash, rasch (“hasty, headstrong, rash”) [and other forms], probably from Old English *ræsċ (“rash”) (found in derivatives such as ræsċan (“to move rapidly; to flicker; to flash; to glitter; to quiver”), ræsċettan (“to crackle, sparkle”), etc.), from Proto-West Germanic *rask, *raskī, *rasku, from Proto-Germanic *raskaz, *raskuz, *raþskaz, *raþskuz (“rash; rapid”), from Proto-Indo-European *Hreth₂- (“to run, roll”). The Middle English word was probably influenced by the cognates listed below. The adverb is derived from Middle English rashe (“quickly, rapidly”), from rash, rasch (adjective) (see above). Cognates * Dutch ras, rasch (“rash”) * Middle Low German rasch (“rash”) * Old Danish rask (“agile, nimble; fast; healthy, vigorous”) (modern Danish rask (“agile, nimble; fast; healthy, vigorous; hasty, rash”)) * Old High German reski (“impetuous, rash”) (Middle High German rasch, resch (“agile, nimble; fast; lively; healthy, vigorous”), modern German rasch, räsch, resch (“agile, nimble; fast; hasty, rash; healthy, vigorous; of food: crisp, crusty”)) * Old Norse rǫskr (“brave; healthy, vigorous”) (Icelandic röskur (“strong; healthy, vigorous”)) * Old Swedish rasker (“agile, nimble; brave; fast; vigorous”) (modern Swedish rask (“agile, nimble; fast; healthy, vigorous”))
An area of inflamed and irritated skin characterized by reddened spots that may be filled with fluid or pus. Also, preceded by a descriptive word (rare or obsolete), an illness characterized by a type of rash.
He came out in a rash because of an allergy.
She applied rash cream on herself to reduce the irritation.
An irregular distribution or sprinkling of objects resembling a rash (sense 1).
An outbreak or surge in problems; a spate, string, or trend.
There has been a rash of vandalism lately.
Where this word comes from
Probably from Old French rasche, rache (“skin eruption, rash; (specifically) scabies, scurf”) (obsolete), from racher (“to scrape; to scratch”) (although this is only directly attested later than the noun), from Vulgar Latin *rāsicāre (“to scrape”), from Latin rāsus (“scraped, scratched; shaved”), the perfect passive participle of rādō (“to scrape, scratch; to shave; to rub, smooth; to brush along, graze”). Doublet of rase and raze. Cognates * French rash, rach (“skin eruption, rash”) (rare) (borrowed from English rash) * Italian rasca, raschia (“skin eruption like scabies”) (obsolete) (both borrowed from Old Occitan) * Old Occitan rasca (“skin eruption like scabies”)
Chiefly preceded by a descriptive word: a fabric with a smooth texture woven from silk, worsted, or a mixture of the two, intended as an inferior substitute for silk.
cloth rash silk rash
Where this word comes from
Uncertain; the word is similar to other words from Germanic or Romance languages listed in the table below, but the connection between the English word and those words is unclear. One suggestion is that they ultimately derive from the town of Arras in France, known for its cloth and wool industries (whence arras (“tapestry, wall hanging”)); compare German Rasch (“lightly woven silk or (usually) worsted fabric”) (said to be from Middle High German arrasch (“arras”), and ultimately from the name of the town), and the obsolete names for the fabric, Catalan drap de arraz, drap d'Arraç, Spanish paño de ras (literally “cloth of Arras”). The Oxford English Dictionary states that even if rash did not originally derive from Arras, the name of the town could have influenced the English word. possible cognates * Catalan ras (“smooth fabric woven from silk”) (also raç (obsolete)) * Danish rask (“thin, coarse woollen cloth usually made from worsted”) (also rasch (obsolete), derived from German) * Dutch ras (“woven silk or (usually) worsted fabric”) (also rasch (obsolete, rare), rass (obsolete)) * Middle French ras (modern French ras (“various types of short-nap cloth”)) * German Rasch, Low German Rasch (“lightly woven silk or (usually) worsted fabric”) (archaic or historical) * Italian raso (“smooth fabric woven from silk”), rascia (“serge”) * Late Latin rasum (“some form of fabric”), pannus rasus (“satin”) * Old Occitan ras (modern Occitan ras (“smooth fabric woven from silk”); also rac (obsolete)) * Spanish raso (“smooth fabric woven from silk; other types of fabric”) * Swedish rask (“thin woollen cloth usually made from worsted; similar cloth made from silk”) (also rasch (archaic), rass (obsolete))
A soft crackling or rustling sound.
Where this word comes from
Imitative.
To forcefully move or push (someone or something) in a certain direction.
To break (something) forcefully; to smash.
To emit or issue (something) hastily.
Usually followed by up: to prepare (something) with haste; to cobble together, to improvise.
To move forcefully, hastily, or suddenly; to dash, to rush.
To fall heavily; to dash down.
Chiefly followed by against, at, or upon: To collide or hit.
Where this word comes from
From Late Middle English rashen, rassh (“to hasten, hurry, rush”) [and other forms], from Old English ræscan (“to move rapidly; to flicker; to flash; to glitter; to quiver”); see further at etymology 1. probable cognates * Dutch rasschen, rassen (“to hasten, hurry, rush”) (obsolete) * Old Norse raska (“to dislodge, displace; to stir up”) (Swedish raska (“to hurry; to act carelessly or hastily”))
Chiefly followed by away, down, off, out, etc.: to pluck, pull, or rip (something) violently.
Where this word comes from
PIE word *wréh₂ds Probably an aphetic form of arace (“to tear up by the roots; to draw away”) (obsolete), from Middle English aracen (“to remove (something) by force, pluck or pull out, tear out; to grab; to lacerate; to flay or skin (an animal); to erase, obliterate”) [and other forms], from Old French aracer, arachier (“to pull off (by physical force)”) [and other forms] (whence Anglo-Norman racher, aracher (“to pluck out, pull out”); modern French arracher (“to pull up, tear out, uproot; to extract, take out (a tooth); to peel, pull off, rip off; to buy, snap up; to fight over; to tear (oneself) away from”)), a variant of esrachier (“to eradicate, get rid of”), from Latin exrādīcāre, ērādīcāre (“to root out; to annihilate, extirpate”), from ē- (a variant of ex- (prefix meaning ‘away; out’)) + rādīx (“root of a plant”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wréh₂ds (“root”)) + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs).
To hack, slash, or slice (something).
Chiefly followed by out: to scrape or scratch (something); to obliterate.
Where this word comes from
Probably a variant of race, raze (“to demolish; to destroy, obliterate; to scrape as if with a razor”), possibly modelled after rash (etymology 5 or etymology 6). Raze is derived from Middle English rasen, racen, rase (“to scrape; to shave; to erase; to pull; to strip off; to pluck or tear out; to root out (a tree, etc.); to pull away, snatch; to pull down; to knock down; to rend, tear apart; to pick clean, strip; to cleave, slice; to sever; to lacerate; to pierce; to carve, engrave; to dig; (figuratively) to expunge, obliterate; to alter”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman raser, rasere, rasser, Middle French, Old French raser (“to shave; to touch lightly, graze; to level off (grain, etc.) in a measure; to demolish, tear down; to erase; to polish; to wear down”), from Vulgar Latin *raso (“to shave; to scrape; to scratch; to touch lightly, graze”), from Latin rāsus (“scraped; shaved”); see further at etymology 2.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.