rake
Alternatively rakehell or rakeshame. A negative description for a man of questionable morals.
The favored term for a hero knowledgable in the bedroom, with a string of ladies in his past. Many Regency novel heroes are “fake rakes” or deemed by the general populace to be sleeping with women left and right, but not philanderers in reality. Or they have all the good qualities of a rake (ie. they know what they are doing behind closed doors) but few or none of the bad ones (e.g. uncaring, debauched, dissolute, etc.). A rakish hero could refer to a man who cares little about what others think and freely takes as he pleases, or one who simply looks rakish — he has a wicked gleam in his eyes and a cat-like, prowling grace. Romance writers take literary license with this term, and really who can resist the rakish hero as defined by Regency romance?
1811 Vulgar Tongue
A lewd, debauched fellow.
Merriam-Webster
A dissolute person : libertine
Wikipedia
A man habituated to immoral conduct : roué
