ruffian
noun
a tough, lawless person; roughneck; bully.
ruffianly
-
a word derived from
ruffian.
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.
He was a principal leader in the mutiny of 1857 & of a most ruffianly disposition.
From BBC ● Apr. 4, 2018
Russell was thoroughly and lastingly embittered against the "ruffianly" Northerners, but he still kept his reportorial objectivity, predicted that Bull Run would stimulate the North to fight harder.
From Time Magazine Archive
It is not so many years since "Bolshevik" was a popular synonym for a low, ruffianly fellow and "ruble" was a popular synonym for the ultimate in worthless money.
From Time Magazine Archive
At the cinema their hearts, like those of a million shopgirls, beat hardest for ruffianly Clark Gable.
From Time Magazine Archive
The squireens were ruffianly through ignorance, their betters through self-interest, for it was easy to detect which way the wind was blowing.
From My Lords of Strogue, Vol. II (of III) A Chronicle of Ireland, from the Convention to the Union by Lewis Wingfield
