Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Having a healthy, reddish color.
- adj. Reddish; rosy.
- adj. Chiefly British Slang Used as an intensive: "You ruddy liar!” ( John Galsworthy).
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Of a red color; reddish; inclining to red; rosy: as, a ruddy blaze; ruddy clouds; ruddy gold; ruddy cheeks.
- Glowing; cheery; bright.
- Synonyms Ruddy, Rubicund, Rosy. Ruddy indicates a fresh and healthy red upon the human skin, or, by extension, upon skies, etc. Rubicund indicates an unnatural red in the face or some part of it, as the cheeks or the nose; it is especially associated with high living or intemperance in drink. Rosy generally indicates a charming, blooming red: as, rosy cheeks; but it is occasionally used in a bad sense.
- To make red or ruddy.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Of a red color; red, or reddish.
- adj. Of a lively flesh color, or the color of the human skin in high health.
- v. To make ruddy.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. inclined to a healthy reddish color often associated with outdoor life
- adj. of a color at the end of the color spectrum (next to orange); resembling the color of blood or cherries or tomatoes or rubies
Etymologies
- Middle English rudi, from Old English rudig; see reudh- in Indo-European roots.
Examples
“Over The Line | Tagged: australian media, censorship, freedom, freedom of speech, internet censorship, kevin ruddy fool, politics | Leave a Comment »”
“I get by on a certain Welsh ruddy charm, and the rest is conversation.”
“The title was also changed in deference to Victorian decorum: the primmer suburban class was deterred by "ruddy" - considered a cuss word close to the obscenity of "bloody" - so Ruddygore became Ruddigore, under which name it went on to achieve a solidly profitable run of 288 performances.”
Telegraph.co.uk: news, business, sport, the Daily Telegraph newspaper, Sunday Telegraph
“Most of them are white -, orange -, and lime-winged sulphurs, but there are also tens of thousands of the small brown nymphalids known as ruddy daggerwings.”
“His face classified as ruddy, his cheekbones hollow.”
“His face is described as ruddy, and he is said to have possessed many qualities which are also ascribed to Satan.”
Welsh Folk-Lore a Collection of the Folk-Tales and Legends of North Wales
“They call the ruddy tinge over the forehead "the cross upon crutches"; for long ago, they say, a great gipsy hero had that mark upon his brow in lines of fire; and to this day all people with a fiery lock of hair, they believe, bring luck to them.”
“There is another species of shieldrake which is sometimes called the ruddy goose, and which has a glossy black ring round its neck and a reddish breast.”
The Lady's Country Companion: or, How to Enjoy a Country Life Rationally
“I love the colour of those crab apples, the ones near me are a kind of ruddy green like a pippin.”
“Yes, he meant it in the "cheerfully confident; optimistic" sense and not the "ruddy" sense.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘ruddy’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4084 more...
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Reds
crimson, blood, scarlet, rott, rojo, brick, fire engine, vermilion, carmine, burgundy, amaranth, alizarin and 115 more...
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henryar's list
marmoleum, menagerie, cyan, ochre, pilfer, discombobulate, loquacious, iridescent, amethyst, derelict, botulism, equilibrium and 240 more...
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SAT Words
But only the ones that I don't already know.
abase, abash, abominate, abstruse, acclivity, accolade, accost, adroit, adulate, adulterate, adumbrate, affray and 241 more...
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Open List: Sheepishness
Everything sheep, from Artiodactyla to zodiac.
lanolin, ram, ewe, Artiodactyla, even-toed ungulate, ruminant, Ovis aries, ovine, domestic, domesticated, neotenic, mouflon and 390 more...
Noelle Knight "There was blood on his face, and he looked pinker than I'd ever seen him, ruddy with health." -Club Dead, by Charlaine Harris Feb 5, 2011
hernesheir Cubrian term for raddle. Feb 18, 2010