What is another word for ruffian?

Pronunciation: [ɹˈʌfi͡ən] (IPA)

Ruffian is a word used to describe someone who is rough, tough, and tends to engage in criminal or violent behavior. There are many different synonyms for the word ruffian that can be used depending on the context in which it is being used. Some of the most commonly used synonyms for ruffian include thug, hoodlum, hooligan, tough, bully, brute, and tough guy. Each of these words conveys a slightly different nuance or tone, but they all share the same basic meaning of describing a person who is tough, rough, and potentially violent. Other possible synonyms for ruffian might include outlaw, bandit, or criminal.

Synonyms for Ruffian:

What are the hypernyms for Ruffian?

A hypernym is a word with a broad meaning that encompasses more specific words called hyponyms.

Usage examples for Ruffian

"Policeman, this ruffian has been threatening me.
"The Devil's Garden"
W. B. Maxwell
Be off with you, or you shall share his fate," cried out a big ruffian; and many of them pressing on, shoved me aside, endeavouring to separate me from their intended victim.
"Paddy Finn"
W. H. G. Kingston
My uncle, who had not spoken another word, firmly kept his seat, notwithstanding the efforts of the ruffian crew to pull him off his saddle.
"Paddy Finn"
W. H. G. Kingston

Famous quotes with Ruffian

  • Be mild with the mild, shrewd with the crafty, confiding to the honest, rough to the ruffian, and a thunderbolt to the liar. But in all this, never be unmindful of your own dignity.
    John Brown
  • I received your foolish and impudent letter. Any violence offered me I shall do my best to repel; and what I cannot do for myself, the law shall do for me. I hope I shall never be deterred from detecting what I think a cheat, by the menaces of a ruffian. What would you have me retract? I thought your book an imposture; I think it an imposture still. For this opinion I have given my reasons to the publick, which I here dare you to refute. Your rage I defy. Your abilities, since your Homer, are not so formidable; and what I hear of your morals, inclines me to pay regard not to what you shall say, but to what you shall prove. You may print this if you will.
    James Macpherson
  • The supposed quietude of a good man allures the ruffian; while on the other hand, arms, like laws, discourage and keep the invader and the plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property.Horrid mischief would ensue were one-half the world deprived of the use of them;
    Thomas Paine
  • The [Oxford tourist] guide would begin: "This, ladies and gentlemen, is Balliol College, one of the very holdest in the huniversity, and famous for the herudition of its scholars. The 'ead of Balliol College is called the Master. The present Master of Balliol is the celebrated Professor Benjamin Jowett, Regius Professor of Greek. Those are Professor Jowett's study-windows, and there" (here the ruffian would stoop down, take up a handful of gravel and throw it against the panes, bringing poor Jowett, livid with fury, to the window) "ladies and gentlemen, is Professor Benjamin Jowett himself."
    Benjamin Jowett

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