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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

ruffian.

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

7 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈɹʌfi.ən/
  1. A scoundrel, rascal, or unprincipled, deceitful, brutal and unreliable person.

  2. A pimp; a pander.

    obsolete
  3. A lover; a paramour.

    obsolete
Where this word comes from

From Middle French rufian, from Italian ruffiano (“pimp”).

verb/ˈɹʌfi.ən/
  1. To play the ruffian; to rage; to raise tumult.

    transitive
Where this word comes from

From Middle French rufian, from Italian ruffiano (“pimp”).

adj/ˈɹʌfi.ən/
  1. Brutal, cruel, ruffianlike.

    ruffian rage
Where this word comes from

From Middle French rufian, from Italian ruffiano (“pimp”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.