Word.ws English Dictionary

ruffled

ruffled is the simple past and past participle of ruffle.

Adjective

ruffled (not comparable)

  1. Having ruffles.
    • It would have slid easily across the floor if not for the ruffled undersurface causing friction.
  2. Puffed up like a bird's feathers.
  3. (informal) Bothered.

Meaning of ruffle

Verb

ruffle (third-person singular simple present ruffles, present participle ruffling, simple past and past participle ruffled)

  1. (transitive) To make a ruffle in; to curl or flute, as an edge of fabric.
    • Ruffle the end of the cuff.
  2. (transitive) To disturb; especially, to cause to flutter.
    • The wind ruffled the papers.
  3. (intransitive) To grow rough, boisterous, or turbulent.
    • The night comes on, and the bleak winds / Do sorely ruffle.c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
  4. (intransitive) To become disordered; to play loosely; to flutter.
    • On his right shoulder his thick mane ', / Ruffles at speed, and dances in the wind.1697, Virgil, “The Third Book of the Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC
  5. (intransitive) To be rough; to jar; to be in contention; hence, to put on airs; to swagger.
    • They would ruffle with jurors.1622, Francis, Lord Verulam, Viscount St. Alban [i.e. Francis Bacon], The Historie of the Raigne of King Henry the Seventh, […], London: […] W[illiam] Stansby for Matthew Lownes, and William Barret...
  6. To make into a ruff; to draw or contract into puckers, plaits, or folds; to wrinkle.

See all 13 meanings of ruffle

Words formed from ruffled

Phrases with ruffled

Questions about ruffled

What does ruffled mean?
Ruffled means having ruffles.
What is ruffled the simple past and past participle of?
Ruffled is the simple past and past participle of ruffle.
What part of speech is ruffled?
Ruffled is an adjective.

Words near ruffled in the dictionary

  1. ruffle feathers
  2. ruffle some feathers
  3. ruffle someone's feathers
  4. ruffle up
  5. ruffleable
  6. ruffled
  7. ruffled a few feathers
  8. ruffled any feathers
  9. ruffled feathers
  10. ruffled some feathers
  11. ruffled someone's feathers

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: ruffled (page history and authors); ruffle (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: “ruffled.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ruffled. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.