Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use ruddy in a sentence

27 example sentences · adjective, adverb, noun

Ruddy means reddish in color, especially of the face, fire, or sky. Example: “The sunset ruddied our faces.”

Examples of ruddy by meaning

adjectiveReddish in color, especially of the face, fire, or sky.

  • Drystone walls, farm buildings and stone cottages, roofed with ruddy tiles, line the way and blend gently into the surrounding countryside.1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, →ISBN, page 143
  • A silvery cloud drifted over the mountains that surrounded him, its edges glowing with ruddy light cast from the harvest moon cradled between two peaks.2003, Christopher Paolini, “Discovery”, in Eragon, page 6
  • Frank, who is narrow and ruddy, and who tended to wear a shirt and tie with a cherry-red beanie pulled low over one ear, swapped his white butcher’s coat for a puffer jacket, and led me outside2020 September 1, Tom Lamont, “The butcher's shop that lasted 300 years (give or take)”, in The Guardian

adjectiveRobust and vigorous, like a person with a red complexion (as compared to a pale one).

  • in ruddy health

adjectiveA mild intensifier, expressing irritation.

  • "What's more," it went on, "she ain't been 'ere for ruddy hours, neither.1951, John Wyndham, The Day of the Triffids, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, published 1954, page 19
  • “With a million ruddy names to choose from, these ruddy Creams call one ruddy son Wilbert and the other ruddy son Wilfred, and both these ruddy sons are known as Willie.1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, “XVIII AND XX”, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC
  • Why didn't you mow the ruddy lawn?!!1991, Lynn Johnston, What, Me Pregnant? (For Better or For Worse) (comic), page 37

adverbA mild intensifier, expressing irritation.

  • 'You're not ruddy going anywhere,' he said, slamming the door behind him.2017, June Francis, When the Clouds Go Rolling By

nounA ruddy duck.

  • In winter, snow geese land at West Pond, a Robert Moses legacy that ought to be called Duck Soup: at this time of year look for ruddies, greater scaups, Northern pintails, American widgeons and gadwalls.2007 November 4, Deborah Baldwin, “Close to Nature, and the Airport”, in New York Times

nounA ruddy ground dove.

  • Ground doves — two ruddies are shown here — are so called because they feed on the ground.1987, Jürgen Nicolai, A Complete Introduction to Finches, Tfh Publications Incorporated, →ISBN, page 89
  • Out-of-state birders seeking Ruddy Ground Doves should be aware of two things.2008, Jim Burns, Jim Burns' Arizona Birds: From the Backyard to the Backwoods, University of Arizona Press, →ISBN, page 28

verbTo make reddish in colour.

  • The sunset ruddied our faces.

More sentences with ruddy

  • The buttons below his waddle open to reveal a ruddy V, tidemark of the sun.2006, Peter Godwin, When a Crocodile Eats the Sun: A Memoir of Africa. From the entry wattle
  • I should have fled the Hogginses up the Great North Road on a ruddy pogo stick.2004, David Mitchell, “The Ghastly Ordeal of Timothy Cavendish”, in Cloud Atlas, London: Sceptre (Hodder and Stoughton), →ISBN, page 169. From the entry pogo stick
  • Can't you pull them ruddy curtains, mate, and let's 'ave some flippin' light?1951, John Wyndham, The Day of the Triffids, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, published 1954, page 19. From the entry flipping
  • I want foundation by the latest maker, but it’s all too ashen or ruddy for my brown, yellow-undertoned complexion.2011, Erin Aubry Kaplan, Black Talk, Blue Thoughts and Walking the Color Line: Dispatches From a Black Journalista, Boston: Northeastern…. From the entry undertoned
  • Since hybridization with the ruddy duck could lead to extinction of the white-headed duck, Spain began to kill its ruddy ducks.2008, Roslyn M. Frank, Body, Language, and Mind: Sociocultural situatedness, volume 2, page 170. From the entry ruddy duck
  • "'Ullo, Chink!" he exclaimed with an offensive heartiness, "blimey if I didn't take you for a ruddy waxwork.1934, Ernest Bramah, The Bravo of London. From the entry oughter
  • A misbirth with a trailing navelcord, hushed in ruddy wool.1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[Episode 3: Proteus]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC, part I [Telemachia], page 38. From the entry misbirth
  • The first who entered was a little ribston-pippin of a man, with ruddy cheeks and fluffy white side-whiskers.1904 February 27, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “The Adventure of Black Peter”, in The Return of Sherlock Holmes, New York, N.Y.: McClure…. From the entry side whiskers
  • Copernicus grinned amorously at the ruddy stout damsel who stood, presenting arms akimbo, under the ale-bush in the latticed porch.1902, James Henry Yoxall, The Rommany Stone, page 101. From the entry ale-bush
  • Somalis have a striking, bushy tail, which, combined with their ruddy coat, has earned them the nickname of "fox cats" in some circles.2013, Nancy Robbins, Domestic Cats: Their History, Breeds and Other Facts, page 260. From the entry fox cat
  • Who really won the ruddy war?2004, David Mitchell, “The Ghastly Ordeal of Timothy Cavendish”, in Cloud Atlas, London: Sceptre (Hodder and Stoughton), →ISBN, page 169. From the entry pogo stick
  • As he drew nearer to Worms, he heard the brassy blare of Roman tubae from the ruddy sandstone walls of the city.1994 April, Stephan Grundy, “Along the Rhine”, in Rhinegold, New York, N.Y.: Bantam Books, →ISBN, book III (The Death of Athelings), page…. From the entry tuba
  • “‘So much as bat an eye as the toffs trot by, and you’ll be digging latrines,’ pardon mon Français, ‘until it’s George the ruddy Fortieth mincing into Westminster.’”2011, Steve Hockensmith, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dreadfully Ever After, Quirk Books, →ISBN, page 241. From the entry pardon mon français
  • Then, ruddy and shiny, with hair on end, and his flannelette shirt hanging over his pit-trousers, he stood warming the garments he was going to put on.1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, chapter 8, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC. From the entry on end
  • He had a fresh complexion, eyes of that common uncertain shade of gray, and was closely shaven except for the incipient muttonchops on his ruddy cheeks.1905, Willa Cather, “The Marriage of Phaedra”, in Troll Garden. From the entry muttonchop

Meaning of ruddy

  1. adjective Reddish in color, especially of the face, fire, or sky.
  2. adjective Robust and vigorous, like a person with a red complexion (as compared to a pale one).
  3. adjective A mild intensifier, expressing irritation.

Full definition of ruddy

Questions about ruddy in a sentence

How do you use ruddy in a sentence?
Ruddy is used as an adjective, adverb and noun. For example: “The sunset ruddied our faces.”
What is a short sentence with ruddy?
“in ruddy health”
What does ruddy mean?
Ruddy means reddish in color, especially of the face, fire, or sky.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: ruddy (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use ruddy in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/ruddy. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.