Etymology
Origin of ruffianism
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.
Ruffianism was crushed, the Jesuits were banished, the nobility were taught to respect the civil law, the peasantry were encouraged.
From Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science Volume 17, No. 097, January, 1876 by Various
The Preparatory Schools of Ruffianism are similarly borne with.
From The Uncommercial Traveller by Dickens, Charles
Emigration flowed in rapidly, both from the South and the North, and the terrible days of Border Ruffianism followed.
From Lippincott's Magazine, Vol. 20, August 1877 by Various
Ruffianism in the middle ages bears about it a stamp of feudality which goes far to disguise its lawlessness, and even to excuse its immorality.
From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Vol. 60, No. 373, November 1846 by Various
Ruffianism may speak the language of learning or religion; it is ruffianism still.
From The Shepherd of the Hills by Wright, Harold Bell
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.