Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use ruffian in a sentence

11 example sentences · noun, verb, adjective

Ruffian means a scoundrel, rascal, or unprincipled, deceitful, brutal and unreliable person. Example: “I simply refuse to do business with such ruffians.”

Examples of ruffian by meaning

nounA scoundrel, rascal, or unprincipled, deceitful, brutal and unreliable person.

  • Mrs Bycourt has two boys of her own, a few years older than Cyril and perfect young ruffians.1927, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], Max Carrados Mysteries

More sentences with ruffian

  • I simply refuse to do business with such ruffians.From the entry do business
  • Voetsek you skelems!” The young ruffians parted to reveal the old Zulu man.2013, Radmer Lenasch, Paper Samurai, page 149. From the entry voetsek
  • With woman steps she followed: the ruffian and his strolling mort.1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[Episode 3: Proteus]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC, part I [Telemachia], page 47. From the entry mort
  • He's not a bad guy, even though he often plays good-cop, bad-cop with faculty against outspoken student ruffians like me.2008, Art Marsicano, Some Men Need Killing: A Hard Coal Country Saga, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 110. From the entry good-cop, bad-cop
  • What had the ruffian café logodaedalus taught me?1971, Edward Dahlberg, The Confessions of Edward Dahlberg, page 206. From the entry logodaedalus
  • There was another pause, and then came a dozen open cars jamful with ruffians in large hats, covered with fire-arms.1953, Sybille Bedford, A Visit to Don Otavio: A Mexican Journey, published 1986, page 280. From the entry jamful
  • You’d never have believed a pretty young lady like that could have made herself into such a ruffian.”1920, Agatha Christie, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, London: Pan Books, published 1954, page 115. From the entry apache
  • The ruffian kept his head, and though the dog's teeth were in his shoulder, he managed to get his right hand free.1910, John Buchan, chapter 16, in Prester John. From the entry keep one's head
  • My brothers got away one day and followed the kangalangs (ruffians) to the backdam, but they made the mistake of coming home soaking wet after swimming in the canal.2011 October 27, Helena Martin, “1957–58 Middle Road, La Penitence”, in Walk Wit’ Me ...: All Ova Guyana, Bloomington, Ind.: Balboa Press…. From the entry kangalang
  • He looked at her shapely person with something of the brazen and evil glance that had been so revolting to her in the eyes of those ruffians.1916, Zane Grey, chapter 10, in The Border Legion, New York: Harper & Bros., page 147. From the entry evil

Meaning of ruffian

  1. noun A scoundrel, rascal, or unprincipled, deceitful, brutal and unreliable person.
  2. noun A pimp; a pander.
  3. noun A lover; a paramour.

Full definition of ruffian

Questions about ruffian in a sentence

How do you use ruffian in a sentence?
Ruffian is used as a noun, verb and adjective. For example: “I simply refuse to do business with such ruffians.”
What is a short sentence with ruffian?
“What had the ruffian café logodaedalus taught me?”
What does ruffian mean?
Ruffian means a scoundrel, rascal, or unprincipled, deceitful, brutal and unreliable person.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: ruffian (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 ruffian in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/ruffian. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.