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

The tough, ruffianly old Imam had moved out of his capital city of Taiz and established himself and his 40 women four miles away in the pleasure palace of Sala.

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

Nor will any student of Persian kittens be surprised to hear that Tipperary's reception of the ruffianly baby's advances was totally different from Lad's.

From Lad: A Dog by Terhune, Albert Payson