[ noun ] disparaging terms for the common people <noun.group>
Riffraff \Riff"raff`\, n. [OE. rif and raf every particle, OF. rif et raf. CF. {Raff}, and 1st {Rifle}.] Sweepings; refuse; the lowest order of society. --Beau. & Fl.
In a country where armies often have attracted riffraff interested primarily in rape and plunder, the army of revolutionary leader Mao Tse-tung went to great effort to serve the people and treat them decently.
One Republican candidate, Franz Glasauer, was recently fined 5,000 marks ($2,975) for telling a rally a "work camp" should be created for "riffraff and scum."