as in thug
a violent, brutal person who is often a member of an organized gang
a gang of ruffians preying upon people who ventured into that section of town
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Examples Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of ruffian
And then there was Post Malone, the rapping, rocking everyman who has replaced Kid Rock as America’s favorite ruffian.
—
Joseph Hudak, Rolling Stone, 17 May 2024
Read More: Fans React to Beyoncé's New Album Cowboy Carter
Once seen as ruffians and pushed to the outskirts of Victorian society, cowboys were reinvented as rugged cultural heroes in the American consciousness in the early 20th century through dime novels, rodeos, movies, and more.
—TIME, 12 Apr. 2024
The building, erected in 1915 as the Rieger Hotel, served traveling salesmen, railroad ruffians and gangsters in the early 20th Century.
—David Hudnall, Kansas City Star, 11 Apr. 2024
And America’s democratic allies, who well understand the importance of U.S. democratic leadership to the global cause of freedom, have been badly shaken by the images of ruffians rampaging through the world’s most powerful democratic assembly
Get unlimited access to all Foreign Affairs.
—Larry Diamond, Foreign Affairs, 7 Jan. 2021
See all Example Sentences for ruffian 
Joseph Hudak, Rolling Stone, 17 May 2024
Read More: Fans React to Beyoncé's New Album Cowboy Carter
Once seen as ruffians and pushed to the outskirts of Victorian society, cowboys were reinvented as rugged cultural heroes in the American consciousness in the early 20th century through dime novels, rodeos, movies, and more.
—TIME, 12 Apr. 2024
The building, erected in 1915 as the Rieger Hotel, served traveling salesmen, railroad ruffians and gangsters in the early 20th Century.
—David Hudnall, Kansas City Star, 11 Apr. 2024
And America’s democratic allies, who well understand the importance of U.S. democratic leadership to the global cause of freedom, have been badly shaken by the images of ruffians rampaging through the world’s most powerful democratic assembly
Get unlimited access to all Foreign Affairs.
—Larry Diamond, Foreign Affairs, 7 Jan. 2021
See all Example Sentences for ruffian
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ruffian
Noun
-
The proximate cause of the war crimes chronicled in Han’s novels is South Korea’s succession of authoritarian governments, their soldiers and police; on Jeju Island, these were joined by gangs of right-wing thugs.Judith Shulevitz, The Atlantic, 14 Jan. 2025
-
Like Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, Assad will be remembered as a thug who left his country on the brink of state failure.Daniel R. Depetris, Newsweek, 10 Jan. 2025
Noun
-
Also tossed in are picturesque but gratuitous use of famous tourist landmarks as background, near-superheroic training montages, credible intimate character dynamics, a ruthless villain (Johan Heldenbergh as Vanaken) and action that in the home stretch goes absurdly over-the-top.Dennis Harvey, Variety, 13 Jan. 2025
-
And though Young and (especially) the perpetrators of the massacre are clearly the villains of the piece, their past history at least partly explains their choices.Keith Phipps, Vulture, 10 Jan. 2025
Noun
-
Other potential responses focus on the perpetrators rather than the puppeteers, prosecuting the petty criminals who carry out acts of sabotage or, in the Baltic Sea, boarding and impounding the offending vessel, as Finland did recently, and following up with a court case.Tamar Jacoby, Forbes, 7 Jan. 2025
-
In her petition, Conley wrote that deploying CHP officers and Solano County sheriff's deputies to Vallejo could help address crime, serve as a deterrent to potential criminals and provide support to an overworked police force.Louis Casiano, Fox News, 6 Jan. 2025
Noun
-
Several warring factions exist within the Zone, as well as lone bandits and stalkers.Issy van der Velde, Rolling Stone, 20 Nov. 2024
-
Nationwide, charging executives say the issue is more pronounced in urban centers, with particularly consistent problems in Las Vegas, Seattle, and Oakland, California. RELATED: Magid: EV shoppers finally have plenty of choices Many of these cord bandits are on the hunt for copper.Bloomberg, The Mercury News, 24 Sep. 2024
Noun
-
His family told the local press that the man responsible for his death was a gangster from a rival group who had been living in exile in South Africa.Matthew Bremner, Rolling Stone, 5 Jan. 2025
-
The group’s chairman is John Chan, a former Chinatown gangster convicted of human trafficking and drug smuggling charges in the mid-2000s who has since become influential in New York politics.Chris Sommerfeldt, New York Daily News, 4 Jan. 2025
Noun
-
The port quickly became successful, attracting pirates, including the infamous Blackbeard, who used the island’s geography to launch surprise attacks on passing ships.Evan Moore, Charlotte Observer, 17 Jan. 2025
-
In the finale, the kids are able to contact the New Republic to warn them about the pirates, and permanently drop the barrier around the planet, revealing the existence of At Attin for the first time to the rest of the galaxy.Adam B. Vary, Variety, 17 Jan. 2025
Noun
-
Having said that, Shinobi already means assassin so the name is a bit redundant.Alfred Konuwa, Forbes, 10 Jan. 2025
-
The actor and martial arts master plays Caine, a blind assassin who uses advanced hearing to beat-up bad guys in creative and brutal ways, as well as - what else? - a cane.Daniel R. Depetris, Newsweek, 10 Jan. 2025
Noun
-
The co-owner of a Texas pizza restaurant came up with an impressive idea to replace employees' tips after thieves ran off with their money over the holidays.Becca Longmire, People.com, 31 Dec. 2024
-
The company plans to weld it shut so that would-be thieves would have to break open a highly radioactive system to get at the weapon-ready material.Emily Waltz, IEEE Spectrum, 30 Dec. 2024
Articles Related to ruffian
Thesaurus Entries Near ruffian
Cite this Entry
“Ruffian.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ruffian. Accessed 20 Jan. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share