In Bridgerton, a “rake” is a charming but morally dodgy gentleman – basically a high-society womanizer with a reputation for sleeping around, partying, and breaking hearts.

What “rake” means in Bridgerton

  • A rake is a seductive bachelor who has many lovers and avoids commitment or marriage.
  • He’s often seen as a scoundrel but still attractive and charismatic, so society gossips about him even as people are drawn to him.
  • Modern equivalents: “player,” “fuckboy” (often how fans describe it), or “bad boy” of the Regency era.

Where the word comes from

  • The term comes from “rakehell,” an old word for a man who lives a wild, immoral life full of gambling, drinking, and sex.
  • Historically, rakes were usually rich upper-class men who could get away with bad behavior because of their status.

How Bridgerton uses “rake”

  • Characters like Simon Basset and Anthony Bridgerton are called rakes because of their reputations with women and their resistance to settling down.
  • In romance stories (including Bridgerton), the “reformed rake” is a classic trope: the wild man who finally falls in love and changes his ways for the right person.

In fan forums, people often sum it up as: “Regency fuckboy, but hot and fixable.”

TL;DR: In Bridgerton, “rake” doesn’t mean the garden tool – it’s Regency slang for a handsome, scandalous womanizer, the aristocratic “bad boy” who might (or might not) be redeemed by love.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.