Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A tough or rowdy person.
- n. A thug or gangster.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. . A pimp; a pander; a paramour.
- n. A boisterous, brutal fellow; a fellow ready for any desperate crime; a robber; a cutthroat; a murderer.
- n. . The devil.
- Licentious; lascivious: wanton.
- Lawless and cruel; brutal: murderous; inhuman: villainous.
- Violent; tumultuous; stormy.
- To play the ruffian; rage; raise tumult.
Wiktionary
- n. A scoundrel, rascal, or unprincipled, deceitful, brutal and unreliable person.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A pimp; a pander; also, a paramour.
- n. A boisterous, cruel, brutal fellow; a desperate fellow ready for murderous or cruel deeds; a cutthroat.
- n. A tough, lawless or bullying person.
- adj. Brutal; cruel; savagely boisterous; murderous.
- v. To play the ruffian; to rage; to raise tumult.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a cruel and brutal fellow
Etymologies
- French, pimp, from Old French rufien, from Old Provençal rufian, from Old Italian ruffiano.
Examples
“It does not appear, however, that the term ruffian is altogether misplaced.”
“Uncle Angelo had a brother, Salvatore, who was known as a ruffian by most men in the streets.”
“The Countess preserves her impenetrable composure; nothing in her betrays the deadly hatred with which she regards the titled ruffian who has insulted her.”
“He didn't like Ceorl, not even a little, but the ruffian was a good man to have along in a brawl.”
Rulers of the Darkness
“I was surprised-because while I'll do anything, myself, he didn't strike me as the sort who'd lower himself to being a whore's ruffian, which is what it amounted to.”
Flashman and The Redskins
“But the ruffian is a good fellow in comparison with these well-dressed, polite scoundrels, who could have given Fielding a hint or two he would have been glad of for the characters of Mr. Jonathan Wild and his friend the Count.”
“She characterized him as a "jug-guzzler," a "swashbuckler," and a "ruffian" -- and smiled as she recalled the picturesque figure with the clean-cut, bronzed face.”
“At hearing her husband called a ruffian by another woman the shadow of resentment passed across Mrs. Hughs 'face, leaving it quivering and red.”
“The ruffian has been a marked man by the keepers and police, they tell me, for the last year or more.”
“Now, as to Casey: he has been described as a ruffian and villain of irredeemable depravity - desperate to the last degree.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘ruffian’.
-
Unsavory characters
absconder, aretaloger, arriviste, avaunter, bamboozler, bandit, banger, barbarian, barmecide, barrator, beldam, blatherskite and 190 more...
-
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...
-
Bad Options
words for those who commit particular crimes: i.e., bank robber, arsonist, etc.
liar, cheat, traitor, arsonist, felon, braggard, thief, profiteer, impostor, phony, fraud, culprit and 194 more...
-
Perponyms
List of words referent to persons who commit specific crimes, or are suspected of committing those crimes, beginning with arsonist and safecracker.
Check out reesetee's nice Bad Guys l...arsonist, safecracker, murderer, rapist, getaway man, jewel thief, accomplice, drug dealer, carjacker, gunrunner, industrial spy, human trafficker and 196 more...
Prolagus Ruffiano, in Italian, is a pander. Sep 12, 2008
bilby British slang - "The devil. Cant - May the Ruffian nab the cuffin queer, and let the harmanbeck trine with his kinchins about his colquarron; may the Devil take the justice, and let the constable be hanged with his children about his neck."
- Francis Grose, 'The Vulgar Tongue'. Sep 12, 2008