ratfink
Syllables: rat·finkUK/ˈɹætfɪŋk/
ratfink noun: an informer or spy; a traitor.
Noun
ratfink (plural ratfinks)
- An informer or spy; a traitor.
- The authors have facetiously labeled the contemplated musical as 'Ratfink', after the name of its central character, James J. Ratfink. Its title is not meant in a derogatory sense.1961 May 9, Louis Calta, “New Show Listed by Jones, Schmidt”, in The New York Times, volume 110, number 37726, page 43
- The film director accused him of being the worst kind of a rat fink (rat pack talk) for leaving a play so early.1961 November 13, “A Quiet Dinner at Ernie Kovacs”, in New York Herald Tribune via Winnipeg Free Press, page 15
- A dislikable or contemptible person.
- Maxwell—or Maxie, as he was familiarly called by his once and former rat fink girlfriend—lived in a six-story walkup on a narrow street in Calm's Point, […]1999, Ed McBain [pseudonym; Evan Hunter], chapter 6, in The Last Dance: A Novel of the 87th Precinct (87th Precinct Mystery; 50), New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 150
- He [Dubyaman, a parody comic superhero based loosely on George W. Bush] searches for "dirty ratfink terrorists" and aims to ferret out their "whacko ideas."2002 March 28, Kim Barker, “It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a fuss”, in Chicago Tribune, archived from the original on 23 Sep 2017
- A strikebreaker.
Verb
ratfink (third-person singular simple present ratfinks, present participle ratfinking, simple past and past participle ratfinked)
- To inform on; to betray.
- It led to some rather incredible and colourful claims in the submission by the union that the employers had ratfinked on previous agreements.1980 November 21, Anthony George Malcolm, “Agricultural Workers Amendment Bill: Report of Labour and Education Committee”, in Parliamentary Debates (Hansard): Second Session, Thirty-ninth Parliament...
- The dumb bastard says he never rat-finks on a woman. They're too precious, he tells me. And he should know. He has had many of them.1992, Sean Flannery, Moving Targets, New York, N.Y.: Tor Books, →ISBN
Examples of ratfink in a sentence
- The first factor is labeled the "Ratfink" factor.1968 October, LaMar T. Empey, Steven G. Lubeck, “Conformity and Deviance in the 'Situation of Company'”, in American Sociological Review...
- In fact both are ratfinks; when thieves fall out, honest men, if they don't come into their dues, are at least afforded a wry smile.1997, Keith Roberts, chapter III, in Lemady: Episodes of a Writer's Life (Borgo Bioviews; no. 9), San Bernardino, Calif.: Borgo Press...
- He wasn't a gabber, nor a squawker not a ratfink nor a snitch.2007, Ichabauk Rum, “Handra Delamore”, in Ill: A Novel: Book One, Lincoln, Neb.: iUniverse, →ISBN, page 63:
- Shimmering dust filmed his skin. […] / 'Sometimes you are such a ratfink jackass,' she told him, throwing his hand down, some of the shimmery dust on her own fingers.2012, Lucy Wood, Diving Belles and Other Stories, 1st Mariner Books edition, Boston, Mass.: Mariner Books, →ISBN, page 99:
Synonyms of ratfink
Forms of ratfink
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | ratfinks |
| alternative form | rat fink |
| alternative form | rat-fink |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | ratfinks |
| present participle | ratfinking |
| past participle | ratfinked |
| past | ratfinked |
Origin of ratfink
From rat + fink.
Questions about ratfink
- What does ratfink mean?
- Ratfink means an informer or spy; a traitor.
- How do you use ratfink in a sentence?
- The first factor is labeled the "Ratfink" factor.
- What part of speech is ratfink?
- Ratfink can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce ratfink?
- Ratfink is pronounced /ˈɹætfɪŋk/ (UK).
- What is the plural of ratfink?
- The plural of ratfink is ratfinks.
Words near ratfink in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: ratfink (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-ratfink.ogg.
Cite this entry: “ratfink.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ratfink. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.