ruffian
Americannoun
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
- ruffianism noun
- ruffianly adjective
Etymology
Origin of ruffian
1525–35; < Middle French < Italian ruffiano, perhaps < Langobardic *hruf scurf + Italian -ano -an
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“Good Boy,” by Jan Komasa, has an arresting star turn by Anson Boon as a ruffian who gets chained up in a rich family’s cellar until he agrees to behave.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 8, 2025
The trial heard him described as a "ruffian" and a "street waif" who never stood still.
From BBC • Jan. 27, 2025
The mercenary, ruffian crew Marsac recruits for assistance is clearly not to be trusted.
From Washington Post • Sep. 1, 2021
Belisle’s imagined Shiffler is no ruffian, but a well-spoken, humble youth who wants only to care for his family and win the hand of Irene Freeman, a blue-eyed Catholic orphan.
From Slate • Sep. 1, 2021
“It's Katherine, Jane McKeene, and you know that. Never you mind about me, who was that ruffian you were speaking with?”
From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
