ruddy
Americanadjective
-
ruddier,
comparative
-
ruddiest
superlative
-
of or having a fresh, healthy red color.
a ruddy complexion.
-
red or reddish.
-
British Slang. damned.
a ruddy fool.
adverb
adjective
-
(of the complexion) having a healthy reddish colour, usually resulting from an outdoor life
-
coloured red or pink
a ruddy sky
adverb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of ruddy
before 1100; Middle English rudi, Old English rudig. See rudd, -y 1
Explanation
Ruddy is used to describe something that is reddish — like the color of red hair, tomatoes, or a friend's cheeks on a cold winter's day. Ruddy is commonly used to describe someone's complexion. In this case, it describes a healthy, reddish glow. If you're normally pale, your skin might have a ruddy tone from working outside. You may hear someone use ruddy as a negative adjective, as well. In Britain it is a substitute for words like bloody or darn: "The ruddy door is stuck again. I'm going to take an axe to it!"
Vocabulary lists containing ruddy
List 7
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A Thousand Splendid Suns
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100 Great Words from "Fahrenheit 451" -- Part I Vocabulary
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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.
See Examples For:
Tracing lipstick’s ruddy arc across the years, we can see how wildly its meanings diverge.
From Salon ● Feb. 19, 2026
Training her sights on a ruddy Sean Penn, Glaser remarked on Hollywood’s obsession with looking younger.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 12, 2026
Blue eyes, ruddy complexion and light brown hair, he reminded her of her grandmother.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2024
His clean-shaven face is ruddy and, excepting a divot between his eyebrows, unwrinkled.
From New York Times ● Nov. 5, 2023
“A piece of cake, apart from the bit at the end where the pinpoint turned out to be next to a ruddy great prison!”
From "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein
“Within six months to a year they start to virilize — getting facial hair, a ruddier complexion, a change in body odor and a deepening of the voice.”
From Washington Post ● Jul. 20, 2018
Upon Oswald’s return from Russia, family members noted that he had lost some hair and weight, while his complexion appeared ruddier.
From Slate ● Nov. 22, 2013
If “The Fitzgerald Family Christmas” revisits the world of “The Brothers McMullen,” the names have changed, and Mr. Burns is stouter and ruddier than he was 17 years ago.
From New York Times ● Dec. 7, 2012
This spring the long-stemmed birds emerged from winter quarters ruddier than ever.
From Time Magazine Archive
Oppie’s hair had turned silvery; he seemed ruddier and less gaunt than Lilienthal remembered from the last time they had seen each other.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
Suddenly, Newsom started appearing in places such as Bakersfield, Redding and Colusa, among the ruddiest parts of red California.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 22, 2024
"If you could see my whole family congregated together, you would see every tonality of colour, from the darkest black, like my Uncle Hyne, to the ruddiest white, like my Uncle Eric - a Scotsman."
From BBC ● Apr. 25, 2023
The wildest brawls and ruddiest language of Kipling's soldiers can be read unblushingly in a drawing-room.
From Time Magazine Archive
The ruddiest of them: The Wanderer, by Mika Waltari, may be a bit of a disappointment to the author's fans.
From Time Magazine Archive
Higher yet, and clearer be the blaze, till our cottage windows glow the ruddiest in the village, and the light of our household mirth flash far across the bay to Nahant.
From The Village Uncle (From "Twice Told Tales") by Nathaniel Hawthorne
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.
