ruffians

noun

Definition of ruffiansnext
plural of ruffian
as in thugs
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

Recent Examples of Synonyms for ruffians
  1. criminals
  2. bandits
  3. gangsters
  4. villains
  5. assassins
Noun
  • Many criminals use generative AI to improve the grammar and believability of their phishing emails and scripts.
    Craig Costigan, Forbes, 11 Dec. 2024
  • Yet due to extremists in the gun lobby, the ATF's rule to stop criminals from getting ghost guns is under threat.
    Joseph Epstein, Newsweek, 10 Dec. 2024
Definition of criminals
Noun
  • Several warring factions exist within the Zone, as well as lone bandits and stalkers.
    Issy van der Velde, Rolling Stone, 20 Nov. 2024
  • There were also potential issues at Pangong Lake, the location where the bandits are carried by the elephants and find the Mystic in a tree.
    Leila Jordan, IndieWire, 14 Oct. 2024
Definition of bandits
Noun
  • This historical event, which aimed to reform secret society gangsters, ended in a riot and resulted in Singapore’s largest trial to date.
    Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 21 Oct. 2024
  • Finally, talk about how a number of these gangsters like Frank represent were on the opposite side of the law in one area and community builders in another in real life.
    Ronda Racha Penrice, The Hollywood Reporter, 11 Oct. 2024
Definition of gangsters
Noun
  • Tired of seeing Hugh Grant plays villains and creeps?
    Harrison Richlin, IndieWire, 7 Dec. 2024
  • On Foods That Sabotage Your Sleep Tollemache emphasizes that these seven foods aren’t villains.
    Bryan Robinson, Forbes, 7 Dec. 2024
Definition of villains
Noun
  • Season 1 saw Glover and Maya Erksine portray the eponymous assassins, who were quickly revealed to be just two in a vast network of gig-working specialists who all go by the codenames John Smith and Jane Smith.
    Wesley Stenzel, EW.com, 7 Dec. 2024
  • But society might be better off if some workers, like assassins, simply retire.
    Teresa Ghilarducci, Forbes, 1 Dec. 2024
Definition of assassins
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.

Thesaurus Entries Near ruffians

ruffianly

ruffians

ruffle

See More Nearby Entries 

Cite this Entry

“Ruffians.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ruffians. Accessed 17 Dec. 2024.

Copy Citation

Share

More from Merriam-Webster on ruffians

Nglish: Translation of ruffians for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See All

Point of View: It's Personal

Plural and Possessive Names: A Guide

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

More Commonly Misspelled Words

Words You Always Have to Look Up
See All

Popular in Wordplay

See All

More Words with Remarkable Origins

8 Words for Lesser-Known Musical Instruments

Birds Say the Darndest Things

10 Words from Taylor Swift Songs (Merriam's Version)

10 Scrabble Words Without Any Vowels
See All

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Word Game Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
confused man standing between two doors
One Word or Two? Take the Quiz! Some words just need a little space.