riffraff

the term 'riffraff' originated in late middle english from the old french phrase 'rif et raf', meaning 'one and all, every scrap'. this phrase itself is likely based on the verbs 'rifler' ('to plunder') and 'raffler' ('to snatch'). the core idea was of sweeping everything away, which evolved to refer collectively to the 'sweepings' or refuse of society. by the 15th century, it had solidified in english to denote people of the lowest social class or disreputable character, carrying the metaphorical sense of societal debris.

this word is a reduplication, a common linguistic process where a word or element is repeated with a slight change. it is not productively built from separable modern english morphemes.