Word of the Day

: November 2, 2015

ruddy

adjective RUDD-ee

What It Means

1 : having a healthy reddish color

2 : red, reddish

ruddy in Context

Sean's ruddy complexion was intensified after a brisk walk in the cold night air.

"I like the crudo sampler, too, composed in part with citrusy salmon dusted with sea salt, and ruddy beef tartare." — Tom Sietsema, The Washington Post, 22 July 2015

Did You Know?

In Old English, there were two related words meaning "red": 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 vulgar intensive bloody, as 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."