noun
archaicA fashionable or wealthy man of immoral or promiscuous habits.
‘her dissolute rakehell of a son, Sir Felix’- ‘He ingratiates himself into the life of the rich rakehell, emulating his actions, his speech, his body language.’
- ‘He was eighteen, and a rakehell, and the disparity between his character and his appearance is a familiar failure of fit that has come to give beauty a bad name.’
- ‘Finney was a young and rambunctious British actor, playing a young and exceedingly virile rakehell.’
- ‘If an infamous rakehell like Lord Braunfield could undergo such a remarkable and genuine reformation, surely there was hope for the likes of Lord Ashbourne?’
- ‘Farnol's usual spunky heroine is on the run from the rakehell and drunkard Lord Barrasdale, who would marry her by force to claim her lands.’
- ‘An hour at Brooks', in the company of the rakehells, proved to be more than I could endure.’
playboy, libertine, profligate
Origin
Mid 16th century from the old expression to rake hell, meaning ‘to search through hell’ (to find such a bad man).
Are You Learning English? Here Are Our Top English Tips