What's a “right old roarer” in British English?

Question

I was reading an Amazon review just now, and came across someone (Tchaikovsky) being described as a right old roarer. I'm guessing this is familiar slang to Brits, but I'm not getting good search results, and it's a bit difficult to infer the meaning through context. What does it mean? Is it common use?

Answer 1

If this is the Amazon context you refer to,

The more Tchaikovsky's reputation grew as a composer, the more anxious he became to avoid public disclosure as a homosexual. He was a right old roarer apparently, specialising in boys in their early to mid teens.

it seems quite well-fitting with the slang definition of roarer

a male homosexual, especially one who is actually or supposedly flagrant.

I've not come across this word myself before, so not sure how common this is in BrE.

Without the full context, I thought roarer meant "someone who communicates vocally in a very loud voice"