Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- Having the character of a ruffian; bold in crime; brutal; violent; rough.
- Characteristic of or befitting a ruffian
- Villainous; depraved: as, ruffianly conduct; ruffianly crimes.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Like a ruffian; bold in crimes; characteristic of a ruffian; violent; brutal.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adverb In the manner of a ruffian.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective violent and lawless
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Then he called our ruffianly scallywags of a crew on to the main deck, eyed them up and down, and ignoring our captain, asked me how many pairs of handcuffs were on board.
The Call Of The South 1908 Louis Becke 1884
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I felt detached, noticing details of my surroundings with a peculiar intensity: the small stained-glass inset over the bar, casting colored shadows over the ruffianly proprietor and his wares, the curve of the handle on a copper-bottomed dipper that hung on the wall next to me, a green-bellied fly struggling on the edges of a sticky puddle on the table.
Sick Cycle Carousel 2010
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'He's better than any ruffianly bodyguard or holiday tutor.
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The news that David Cameron is picking the wings from Brown like a ruffianly boy with an insect at PMQs does not improve my mood as the odour of mendacity permeates everything while this toxicity infects the country ..
He Towers Above Us Newmania 2007
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The news that David Cameron is picking the wings from Brown like a ruffianly boy with an insect at PMQs does not improve my mood as the odour of mendacity permeates everything while this toxicity infects the country ..
Archive 2007-10-07 Newmania 2007
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He shut his face out for a moment, with the hand that again wandered over his forehead, and then it lowered on Redlaw, reckless, ruffianly, and callous.
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She exchanged some words in a whisper with three or four ruffianly looking men, and said that she could let us have
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There will be a siring of carts and mules on a certain part of the coast, and a most ruffianly lot of men, men you understand, men with wives and children and sweethearts, who from the very moment they start on a trip risk a bullet in the head at any moment, but who have a perfect conviction that I will never fail them.
The Arrow of Gold 2006
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A little bit further, pushed out of sight of the ruffianly soldier in suit and tie, a few protesters too few, who were still saving the opposition honor in this France visit, which was as much propaganda as business, with a strong oil smell.
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A little bit further, pushed out of sight of the ruffianly soldier in suit and tie, a few protesters too few, who were still saving the opposition honor in this France visit, which was as much propaganda as business, with a strong oil smell.
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