ruffled
AmericanEtymology
Origin of ruffled
Explanation
Ruffled things are frilly, or edged with fancy ruffles. Your little sister might love her ruffled dress so much that she wants to wear it every day. A bird's ruffled feathers provide it some protection as well as looking attractive to potential mates. You can also describe things that are mussed or rumpled, by a hand or the wind, for example, as ruffled. Your dog's ruffled fur might be caused by the breeze — or she might have her hackles up because she sees her mortal enemy, the mail carrier. The root of ruffled is probably the Low German ruffelen, "to wrinkle or curl."
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.
Ruffled feathers are not unusual in the spring.
From Washington Post • Apr. 22, 2022
Ruffled by Rifts, it does appear that rifts are all around you — or at the very least, you are in the minority of being willing to get vaccinated in your family.
From Salon • May 13, 2021
“Annoyance stokes him, sends him forth, gives him purpose. Ruffled, he becomes electric, full of play and possibility. There is magnificence in his every irritation.”
From Seattle Times • Jul. 25, 2020
Mr. Ruschmann, 26, is a senior assistant superintendent at Ruffled Feathers, a Pete Dye golf course in Lemont, Ill. The groom graduated cum laude from Ohio State University.
From New York Times • Sep. 8, 2019
‘Quite the little gentleman—from the waist up. Silver buttons, eh? Ruffled shirt?’
From "Johnny Tremain" by Esther Hoskins Forbes
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.
