Doreen Tovey
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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."
Examples of ruddy in a Sentence
Margaret Talbot, New Yorker, 21 July 2025
Summer visitors, on the other hand, can encounter a truly diverse array of species, with potential sightings spanning from the little blue heron to the ruddy turnstone.
—Jared Ranahan, Forbes.com, 26 June 2025
His ruddy complexion quickly disappeared and the color drained from his face and hands.
—Jeffrey Collins, Los Angeles Times, 14 June 2025
Wandering tattlers, the ruddy turnstone and a variety of other summer migrants will be found on our local beaches.
—Ernie Cowan, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 June 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Ruddy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ruddy. Accessed 20 Aug. 2025.
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Medical Definition
ruddy
adjective
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