ruddy

adjective

rud·​dy ˈrə-dē 

ruddier; ruddiest

1

: having a healthy reddish color

2

: red, reddish

3

British

—used as an intensive

bellowed like a ruddy bull when she wanted food

—Doreen Tovey

ruddily

ˈrə-də-lē 

adverb

ruddiness

ˈrə-dē-nəs 

noun

Did you know?

In Old English, there were two related words referring to red coloring: rēad and rudu. Rēad evolved into our present-day red. Rudu evolved into rud (a word now encountered only in dialect or archaic usage) and ruddy. Most often, ruddy is applied to the face when it has the red glow of good health or is red from a suffusion of blood from exercise or excitement. It is also used in the names of some birds, such as the American ruddy duck. In British English, ruddy is also used as a colorful euphemism for the sometimes offensive intensive bloody, as 20th-century English writer Sir Kingsley Amis illustrates in The Riverside Villas Murder: "Ruddy marvelous, the way these coppers' minds work.... I take a swing at Chris Inman in public means I probably done him in."

Synonyms

• blooming
• florid
• flush
• full-blooded
• glowing
• red
• rosy
• rubicund
• sanguine

Examples of ruddy in a Sentence

She has a ruddy face.

the ruddy surface of Mars

Recent Examples on the Web

These ruddy spots, some of which are likely cryovolcanoes that erupt frosty sludge, suggest Europa’s ice shell is churning as cold material sinks and warmer pockets rise to the surface. —Jay Bennett, Smithsonian Magazine, 14 Oct. 2024

One pot of beans — made into a soup of ruddy pinquitos — is already a bounty that affords meals for days, with broth that only gets tastier over time. —Betty Hallock, Los Angeles Times, 13 Oct. 2024

The pink-gold is not ruddy red, and the silvered dial is subtly luminescent. —Allen Farmelo, Robb Report, 29 Sep. 2024

Munk, who is stocky, with ruddy skin and a shock of strawberry-blond hair, served this course to me himself. —Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, 23 Sep. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English rody, rudy, going back to Old English rudi (attested once), from rudu "red color, redness" (going back to a Germanic base *ruđ-, zero-grade ablaut of *rauđa- "red," whence also Old Icelandic roði "redness") + -i, -ig -y entry 1 — more at red entry 1

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing ruddy

• ruddy duck
• ruddy well

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Kids Definition

ruddy

adjective

rud·​dy ˈrəd-ē 

ruddier; ruddiest

1

: having a healthy reddish color

2

: red entry 1 sense 1, reddish

ruddily

ˈrəd-ᵊl-ē 

adverb

ruddiness

ˈrəd-ē-nəs 

noun

Medical Definition

ruddy

adjective

rud·​dy ˈrəd-ē 

ruddier; ruddiest

: having a healthy reddish color

a ruddy complexion