Is ratchet a word

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The word ratchet has two distinct meanings as a slang term and a formal term. This article will cover how to use the word ratchet in its various contexts, the origin of the word ratchet, synonyms and antonyms, example sentences containing the word ratchet, and translations of ratchet. 

What Does the Word Ratchet Mean?

According to Dictionary, the word ratchet is a slang term that means excellent or exciting. This is a reclamation of the word, which can also be used as an insult meaning trashy or promiscuous. The pronunciation of ratchet is ˈrætʃɪt, and ratchet is two syllables – ratch-et.

Ratchet is a controversial term. While it has been reclaimed in recent years, it has often been used as a derogatory term for many Black women and other women of color. Calling people ratchet does not always have positive connotations, and this former hip-hop slang can still be taken as an insult or considered appropriative.

Ratchet also refers to a type of mechanical device. A mechanism consisting of a pawl comes into contact with the sloping teeth of a toothed wheel or a bar. Therefore, it only allows motion in one direction. The word ratchet can also refer to the pieces of this mechanism. 

Finally, ratchet can mean to increase in intensity.

What Is the Origin of Ratchet?

According to The Free Dictionary, the word ratchet is French in origin. This word comes from the French rochet, which is a variant of the Middle French rocquet, Old French roquet, and Old French rocquet, meaning a blunt lance-head. These terms are of Germanic origin, from the Old High German rocko distaff.

As for the slang term ratchet, this comes from the nickname for Shreveport, Louisiana: Ratchet City. In the late 1990s, rappers from Louisiana began using this term in their songs. This term comes from the pronunciation of the word wretched, implying a low class upbringing.

This word rose to popularity with the 2005 song “Do Da Ratchet” by Rapper Lil Boosie. Many other songs have featured this term, such as Juicy J’s “Bandz a Make Her Dance,” Nicki Minaj’s “Right By Side,” and LL Cool J’s “Ratchet.”

In 2013, a video called “Ratchet Girl Anthem” broke the internet. This comedy video features Emmanuel and Phillip Hudson and has over 45 million views on YouTube. 2012 was called the year of the ratchet, and ratchet culture definitely had its moment in the spotlight in the 2010s.

How Can Ratchet Be Used in a Sentence?

The word ratchet can be used as both a slang term and a regular word. It is important to know how to use this word in each of these specific contexts. See if you can identify how the word ratchet is used in each of the below example sentences.

The investors tried to ratchet up money to pay the employees’ wages, but tension ratcheted up amongst the employees while waiting for their paycheck.

The men judged the seemingly ratchet girl as she walked into the club and got drinks for free, but they did not know that she actually had a Ph.D. in neuroscience and a day job as a surgeon.

The blades of the ratchet were wound too tight on the bobbin, and we had to use a screwdriver and wrenches to loosen it.

What Are Translations of Ratchet?

Nice Translator lists translations of ratchet below. 

• Malayalam: ruthttuet
• German: Ratsche
• Urdu: شافٹ
• Ukrainian: храповик
• Marathi: ratchet
• Welsh: ratchet
• Basque: ratchet
• Swedish: ratchet
• Polish: zapadkowy
• French: rochet
• Greek: αναστολεύς
• Hebrew: מַחגֵר
• Arabic: اسئلة
• Croatian: ratchet
• Russian: храповик
• Serbian: ракетница
• Dutch: ratel
• Turkish: cırcır
• Estonian: reket
• Indonesian: roda bergigi searah
• Finnish: räikkä
• Latvian: ratchet
• Kannada: ರಾಟ್ಚೆಟ್
• Gujarati: રચેટ
• Slovak: račňa
• Czech: ráčna
• Chinese (PRC): 棘轮
• Spanish: trinquete
• Hindi: शाफ़्ट
• Hungarian: racsnis
• Telugu: రాట్చెట్
• Chinese (Taiwan): 棘輪
• Lithuanian: terkšlė
• Japanese: ラチェット
• Amharic: Rakheet
• Portuguese (Portugal): chave catraca
• Tamil: ராட்செட்
• Catalan: ratchet
• Korean: 래칫 휠 장치
• Thai: วงล้อ
• Portuguese (Brazil): chave catraca

What Are Synonyms of the Word Ratchet?

Since the word ratchet can be considered slang, it is important to know synonyms of ratchet. Using slang terms is not always acceptable in different circumstances. By looking at the below list from Power Thesaurus, you can learn how to refer to someone or something that is ratchet without using a slang term. 

Beware: many of these words are still considered insulting.

• base
• brassy
• cheap
• cheap and nasty
• cheaper
• cheapest
• cheapjack
• cheapo
• cheesy
• coarse
• common
• contemptible
• crappy
• crude
• crummy
• despicable
• dowdy
• flash
• flashy
• garish
• gaudy
• gimcrack
• glitzy
• inelegant
• inferior
• junky
• loud
• lousy
• low-grade
• low-rent
• meretricious
• miserable
• no-good
• paltry
• poor
• poor-quality
• pulp
• rubbishy
• rude
• schlocky
• second-rate
• shabby
• shoddy
• sleazy
• styleless
• substandard
• tacky
• tasteless
• tatty
• tawdry
• third-rate
• ticky-tacky
• trashy
• trivial
• trumpery
• two-bit
• unfashionable
• unhandsome
• unstylish
• useless
• valueless
• vulgar
• worthless

What Are Antonyms of the Word Ratchet?

Power Thesaurus also lists many opposites of ratchet.

• admirable
• alluring
• appealing
• attractive
• beauteous
• charming
• chic
• classy
• dapper
• dashing
• dazzling
• delightful
• deluxe
• dicty
• divine
• dressy
• elegant
• enticing
• excellent
• exclusive
• expensive
• exquisite
• fair
• fancy
• fascinating
• fashionable
• fine
• foxy
• good-looking
• gorgeous
• graceful
• grand
• handsome
• high-class
• high-toned
• in vogue
• lovely
• luxurious
• magnificent
• marvelous
• mod
• modish
• natty
• plush
• plushy
• posh
• ravishing
• refined
• ritzy
• sexy
• sharp
• sightly
• smart
• snappy
• snazzy
• sophisticated
• spiffy
• statuesque
• stunning
• stylish
• superior
• swank
• swanky
• swish
• tony
• trendy
• upmarket
• upper-class
• upscale
• well-formed

Conclusion

The word ratchet has three distinct meanings. First, it can be used as an offesnive slang term to refer to something or someone that is trashy or classless. It can also be used as a noun to refer to a certain type of mechanism or as a verb to mean to increase in number or intensity. 

Sources:

1. Trashy synonyms – 766 Words and Phrases for Trashy | Power Thesaurus 
2. Classy synonyms – 527 Words and Phrases for Classy | Power Thesaurus 
3. Ratchet – definition of ratchet | The Free Dictionary 
4. Ratchet | Dictionary.com 
5. Ratchet | Nice Translator 

• 1
  ratchet
  
  

  ratchet gear

  храповик

  ratchet wheel

  храповик

  ratchet wrench

  ключ с трещоткой

  English-Russian aviation dictionary > ratchet

• 2
  ratchet
  
  

  ratchet

  n

  Англо-русский строительный словарь. — М.: Русский Язык.
  .
  1995.

  * * *

  ratchet

  n

  Англо-русский строительный словарь.
  Академик.ру.
  2011.

  Англо-русский словарь строительных терминов > ratchet

• 3
  ratchet
  
  

  ratchet noun 1) храповик, трещотка 2) собачка

  Англо-русский словарь Мюллера > ratchet

• 4
  ratchet up
  
  

  ratchet up v. углублять, расширять

  Англо-русский словарь Мюллера > ratchet up

• 5
  ratchet
  
  

  Англо-русский словарь по экономике и финансам > ratchet

• 6
  ratchet
  
  

  Персональный Сократ > ratchet

• 7
  ratchet
  
  

  Англо-русский словарь по машиностроению > ratchet

• 8
  ratchet
  
  

  1. n тех. храповик, трещотка

  2. n тех. собачка

  Синонимический ряд:

  toothed wheel (noun) catch; cog; cogwheel; free wheel; notched wheel; pawl; sprocket wheel; sprocket wrench; toothed wheel

  English-Russian base dictionary > ratchet

• 9
  ratchet
  
  

  Англо-русский технический словарь > ratchet

• 10
  ratchet
  
  

  English-Russian big polytechnic dictionary > ratchet

• 11
  ratchet
  
  

  English-russian automobile dictionary > ratchet

• 12
  ratchet
  
  

  Англо-русский словарь по робототехнике > ratchet

• 13
  ratchet
  
  

  English-Russian big medical dictionary > ratchet

• 14
  ratchet
  
  

  Англо-русский словарь технических терминов > ratchet

• 15
  ratchet
  
  

  сущ.

  4)

  ,

  бирж.

  «храповик», «храповое колесо»

  Syn:

  See:

  * * *
  
  «храповик», «храповое колесо»:
  1) непреодолимое (неминуемое) движение цены вверх или вниз;
  2) система поощрений; менеджеры компании получат в качестве поощрения дополнительные акции, если она успешно функционирует;

  =

  .

  * * *

  Англо-русский экономический словарь > ratchet

• 16
  ratchet
  
  

  1. храповой механизм, храповик; трещотка || снабжать храповым механизмом; приводить в движение или останавливать при помощи храпового механизма

  * * *

  храповой механизм, храповик

  * * *

  1) защёлка; собачка

  2) храповик; храповая шестерня

  •

  
  — drill ratchet
  — drill rotation ratchet

  * * *

  Англо-русский словарь нефтегазовой промышленности > ratchet

• 17
  ratchet
  
  

  [‘ræʧɪt]
  1.

  сущ.

  1)

  тех.

  трещотка, храповик

  3)

  брит.; = ratchet effect необратимые перемены к худшему, «маховик регресса», неумолимое «храповое колесо»

  2.

  гл.

  а) изменяться постепенно; осуществлять пошаговое продвижение

  б) постепенно изменять; передвигать, фиксируя каждое новое положение

  
  — ratchet up

  Англо-русский современный словарь > ratchet

• 18
  ratchet
  
  

  Англо-русский синонимический словарь > ratchet

• 19
  ratchet
  
  

  English-Russian scientific dictionary > ratchet

• 20
  ratchet
  
  

  1) трещотка; храповик; собачка

  4) приводить в движение, останавливать при помощи храпового механизма

  •

  * * *

  Англо-русский строительный словарь > ratchet

When a slang word catches on, students of language often have a difficult time figuring out its meanings and origin. This, I suspect, is because it emerges not like Athene—a fully formed adult released from the mind of Zeus—but like several thousand frog eggs—similar in appearance to one another but bewildering in number and neither well defined nor mature.

Eventually usage of a slang term X will probably coalesce around one or a few more-or-less clearly understood meanings, but in the meantime the only reasonable way to answer questions such as “what does X mean?” is to identify as many of the ways in which the word is being used as you can.

Without attempting to be exhaustive, I took my frog egg search to the least professional-looking authority I could easily find—which turned out to be Caitlin Corsetti’s “Define That: Ratchet” blog post at Gurl.com—and then consulted not Ms. Corsetti but the commenters responding to her post. From them I learned the following things about ratchet.

What does ‘ratchet’ mean, and how is it pronounced?

• Ratchet [is] used to describe someone means nasty, ghetto or trifling. —Janet

• Ratchet also means a situation or process that is perceived to be deteriorating or changing steadily in a series of irreversible steps. It is used as a term for something low class or deteriorated. Similar to how we use the term ghetto. —NyxoftheNight

• Ratchet means: ghetto, stupid, rediculous, cheap —selena

• I have heard my teen-aged granddaughter use this word in reference to her own hair, and she was completely unable to define it or explain what she meant by it. All she could say was, You know, grandma, it’s just rachet! —cat

• It’s just simply a mispronunciation of “wretched”. The same people that use it often describe a “ratchet girl” [as] someone that wears torn “stalkings”. —JBW

• It is a pure homonym that has nothing to do with a ratchet wrench, or “wretched.” It means RAT SHIT. —Becky

• The first time I asked someone for a definition for this slang, I was told it meant “A woman who’s only good for one thing — getting a nut off … like a ratchet.” —Scott Simpson

• its not ratchet that people say its ratchid is what they say! two different words —lollipop

• Racheted is what I keep hearing [people say] —acer

Where does it come from, when was it first used, and who or what popularized it?

• It originated in the 17th century and is a lesser used meaning of the word that has evolved into a more contemporary meaning. —James

• Ratchets been around since the XVIII c. annoying people with their terrible racket, so less fortunate husbands soon started to call it to their ghastly wives —moi même

• It is a derivation of the two words “rat” and “shit” as in the situation is, person is, place is so bad it is as bad or worse than “rat shit.” Totally trash talk. —Lily Bear

• I think its after nurse Ratched from one flew [over] the cuckoos nest. —carlsjr

• The term came from Cedar Grove [in] the City of Shreveport Alabama. Popularized by the song, “Do Tha Ratchet” True origin was spun out of slurring the word WRETCHED Now has become a massively overused typo. —Matt

• watch emanuel & philip hudsons she ratchet video —selena

Is it a «good»/positive word, or «bad»/negative, and has this changed in any way?

• The current slang use of this word has a very nasty, biting undertone to it. The other comments in this thread alone support the connotations of being undesirable. —cat

• About 20yrs ago I somehow caught a nickname (ratchet) due to my ability to fix or repair nearly anything. I understood It’s relation to my daily work and eventually I got used to it. I was told by a college girl I should never be ratchet, it completely through me off and I was simply looking at this girl as if she was crazy. —Adam Draughn

The experts above have spoken pretty clearly about what ratchet means, where it came from, and so on. I would only add that Emmanuel N Phillip Hudson uploaded their “Ratchet Girl Anthem” (cited by selena above) to YouTube twice (on January 16, 2012, and April 26, 2012) and that the two versions have accumulated a combined 56.1 million views. With regard to the mystery of the sudden popularity of ratchet, I think we may have a couple of major suspects (if not the actual perpetrators) here.

Lava House and Lil’ Boosie’s «Do tha Ratchet» (cited by Matt above) deserves some attention because it is considerably older than «Ratchet Girl Anthem.» According to LyricWikia, it was released in 2006. The most frequently watched YouTube video for this song was posted on July 26, 2009, and has garnered an impressive 793,000 views despite being a static image accompanied by Lil’ Boosie’s audio track; still, 793,000 isn’t 56.1 million.

As to whether ratchet is meant to be generally understood in a positive or a negative sense, that aspect of the term may well be in flux, just as everything else about it appears to be. In Lil’ Boosie’s world, ratchet is almost an environmental term: It applies to men (including LB himself) and to women, and it describes most of their doings in the neighborhood where he lives. In contrast, the Hudsons use ratchet specifically in connection with women and do not indicate any sympathy for anyone so described.

Speaking as a complete outsider, with no prior knowledge of ratchet as post–Jimmy Cliff slang, I have to say that the term as used by the Hudsons reminds me quite a bit of skanky, which derived from skank (“An unattractive woman; a malodorous woman; =SKAG,” according to Robert Chapman and Barbara Kipfer, Dictionary of American Slang, third edition [1995]). Here is the Chapman & Kipfer entry for skanky:

skanky or skank-o-rama adj 1980s teenagers fr black Nasty; repellant; =GROTTY, SCUZZY, TRASHY: The girls were somewhat skanky, with lank hair and rotten posture—Richard Price/ …you moved, the earth moved. Skank-o-rama—Sassy

Both skanky and ratchet (as used in the Hudsons’ comical YouTube video, anyway) are not gender-neutral terms, though none of the Gurl.com experts expressly makes this point about ratchet.

It will be interesting to see whether the gender connection that «Ratchet Girl Anthem» promotes influences the long-term sense of the word, notwithstanding Lil’ Boosie’s earlier, more broadly applicable sense of the term. The crucial factor here, probably, is the proportion of users who base their knowledge of the term on the Hudsons’ song versus the proportion of those who adopted the term as it was used in the older Shreveport, Louisiana, tradition.

Asked by: Mr. Berta Ward

Score: 4.9/5
(70 votes)

Ratchet is a slang term that can mean “exciting” or “excellent,” often used as a term of empowerment among women. Some may also use ratchet for when they are feeling “bad” in some way. The term has been previously used, however, as an insult characterizing a woman as being “overdramatic” or “promiscuous.”

Whats does ratchet mean Snapchat?

«Unpleasant or vulgar woman» is the most common definition for RATCHET on Snapchat, WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. RATCHET. Definition: Unpleasant or vulgar woman.

What rachet means?

1 : a mechanism that consists of a bar or wheel having inclined teeth into which a pawl drops so that motion can be imparted to the wheel or bar, governed, or prevented and that is used in a hand tool (such as a wrench or screwdriver) to allow effective motion in one direction only.

What does ratchet mean in 2020?

Ratchet means nasty, ghetto, or trifling.

Why is ratchet a bad word?

Ratchet is a derogatory slang term in hip hop that, in its original sense, referred to an uncouth woman, and may be a Louisianan regiolect version of the word «wretched» or a variation of the word «ratshit.» The term has since been extended to have broader meanings and connotations and is no longer strictly bound by …

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