Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A tough or rowdy person.
- noun A thug or gangster.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To play the ruffian; rage; raise tumult.
- noun . A pimp; a pander; a paramour.
- noun A boisterous, brutal fellow; a fellow ready for any desperate crime; a robber; a cutthroat; a murderer.
- noun . The devil.
- Licentious; lascivious: wanton.
- Lawless and cruel; brutal: murderous; inhuman: villainous.
- Violent; tumultuous; stormy.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Brutal; cruel; savagely boisterous; murderous.
- intransitive verb rare To play the ruffian; to rage; to raise tumult.
- noun obsolete A pimp; a pander; also, a paramour.
- noun A boisterous, cruel, brutal fellow; a desperate fellow ready for murderous or cruel deeds; a cutthroat.
- noun A tough, lawless or bullying person.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
scoundrel ,rascal , orunprincipled ,deceitful ,brutal andunreliable person . - verb To play the ruffian; to rage; to raise tumult.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a cruel and brutal fellow
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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It does not appear, however, that the term ruffian is altogether misplaced.
Lectures and Essays Goldwin Smith 1866
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Uncle Angelo had a brother, Salvatore, who was known as a ruffian by most men in the streets.
This Family of Mine VICTORIA GOTTI 2009
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The Countess preserves her impenetrable composure; nothing in her betrays the deadly hatred with which she regards the titled ruffian who has insulted her.
The Haunted Hotel 2003
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The Countess preserves her impenetrable composure; nothing in her betrays the deadly hatred with which she regards the titled ruffian who has insulted her.
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I was surprised-because while I'll do anything, myself, he didn't strike me as the sort who'd lower himself to being a whore's ruffian, which is what it amounted to.
Isabelle Estelle Bruno 2010
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He didn't like Ceorl, not even a little, but the ruffian was a good man to have along in a brawl.
Rulers of the Darkness Turtledove, Harry 2002
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I was surprised-because while I'll do anything, myself, he didn't strike me as the sort who'd lower himself to being a whore's ruffian, which is what it amounted to.
Flashman And The Redskins Fraser, George MacDonald, 1925- 1982
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I was surprised-because while I'll do anything, myself, he didn't strike me as the sort who'd lower himself to being a whore's ruffian, which is what it amounted to.
Flashman and The Redskins Fraser, George MacDonald, 1925- 1982
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But the ruffian is a good fellow in comparison with these well-dressed, polite scoundrels, who could have given Fielding a hint or two he would have been glad of for the characters of Mr. Jonathan Wild and his friend the Count.
Anahuac : or, Mexico and the Mexicans, Ancient and Modern Edward Burnett Tylor
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She characterized him as a "jug-guzzler," a "swashbuckler," and a "ruffian" -- and smiled as she recalled the picturesque figure with the clean-cut, bronzed face.
The Gold Girl 1921
bilby commented on the word ruffian
British slang - "The devil. Cant - May the Ruffian nab the cuffin queer, and let the harmanbeck trine with his kinchins about his colquarron; may the Devil take the justice, and let the constable be hanged with his children about his neck."
- Francis Grose, 'The Vulgar Tongue'.
September 12, 2008
Prolagus commented on the word ruffian
Ruffiano, in Italian, is a pander.
September 12, 2008