ruffianism
ruffianism noun: the behaviour of a ruffian; ruffians collectively.
Noun
ruffianism (countable and uncountable, plural ruffianisms)
- The behaviour of a ruffian; ruffians collectively.
- Each new comer was one more recruit to the ranks of ruffianism, and not a man penned in that reeking den of infamy but became a sworn hater of law, order, and “free-men.”1874, Marcus Clarke, For the Term of his Natural Life, Penguin, published 2009, page 53
- A scrubby beard covered his face to the cheekbones, giving him an air of ruffianism that went oddly with his large weak frame and nervous movements.1949, George Orwell, 1984, published 1949, page 242 (in Part III, Chapter I)
Forms of ruffianism
| plural | ruffianisms |
|---|
Origin of ruffianism
From ruffian + -ism.
Questions about ruffianism
- What does ruffianism mean?
- Ruffianism means the behaviour of a ruffian; ruffians collectively.
- What part of speech is ruffianism?
- Ruffianism is a noun.
- What is the plural of ruffianism?
- The plural of ruffianism is ruffianisms.
Words near ruffianism in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: ruffianism (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “ruffianism.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ruffianism. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.