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
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of ruffian
Troy Stecher is a puck-mover with some two-way ability but is not considered a ruffian in the corners and in front of the net.
—
Allan Mitchell, The Athletic, 9 Aug. 2024
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
See All Example Sentences for ruffian
Allan Mitchell, The Athletic, 9 Aug. 2024
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
See All Example Sentences for ruffian
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ruffian
Noun
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In this black comedy adapted from the graphic novel, when a bunch of thugs come to her door demanding that Paige’s grandfather (Liam Neeson) help them out with a bank heist, Paige decides to rescue him by doing it herself, with her friends.—
Emily Temple,
Literary Hub,
12 Jan. 2026
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Although the film became a template for white revenge fantasies, its street thugs are assembled with almost comic care to avoid racial bias.—
Adam Gopnik,
New Yorker,
12 Jan. 2026
Noun
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The Sex and the City villain seemed unsupportive of his longtime co-star and love interest, Sarah Jessica Parker, being honored with a Carol Burnett lifetime-achievement award at the Golden Eve last week.—
Alejandra Gularte,
Vulture,
14 Jan. 2026
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While the Infinity Saga revolved around Thanos (Josh Brolin) as the main villain, the Multiverse Saga will debut Doctor Doom as the big bad in the upcoming film.—
Tommy McArdle,
PEOPLE,
13 Jan. 2026
Noun
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The first thing to do is to reduce the damage to the United States, the inflow of guns and criminals and immigrants and drugs into the United States, the destabilizing of a key part of the Western Hemisphere.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
11 Jan. 2026
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Also, place freezes with ChexSystems and the National Consumer Telecom and Utilities Exchange to stop criminals from opening bank accounts, phone lines, or utility services in his name.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
11 Jan. 2026
Noun
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There can be no doubt that in tax terms, America’s wealthiest families make out like bandits.—
Business Columnist,
Los Angeles Times,
8 Jan. 2026
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The robbery lasted less than seven minutes, as the bandits used a truck with an extendable ladder to cut through a window on a second-floor balcony, according to police.—
Mason Leath,
ABC News,
27 Dec. 2025
Noun
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Or downtown was too unsafe, during the gangster era.—
Jared Kaufman,
Twin Cities,
11 Jan. 2026
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Beset by gangs and guns, the Haçienda faltered in the ’90s despite clever-sounding schemes such as replacing the club’s security with the gangsters themselves.—
Boris Kachka,
The Atlantic,
9 Jan. 2026
Noun
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These oil fields basically are pirate operations.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
4 Jan. 2026
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Notorious pirate Jean Lafitte frequented neighboring Grand Terre Island in the early 1800s.—
Kristy Christiansen,
Southern Living,
31 Dec. 2025
Noun
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Though detectives conclude that assassin cult members Ash (Jon Pointing) and Dee Dee (Maeve Courtier-Lilley) were the ones who killed Aaron, Paige revealed that the real killer was Ingrid.—
Emily Blackwood,
PEOPLE,
5 Jan. 2026
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Maduro is being held in the same federal jail in Brooklyn as accused assassin Luigi Mangione.—
Michael Ruiz , Maria Paronich , Brendan McDonald,
FOXNews.com,
5 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Over the next two months or so, work will focus inside the 190,000-square-foot, bunker-like structure — vacant for nearly two decades and long the target of vandals and the object of thieves who stripped the concrete structure of anything of value.—
Kenneth R. Gosselin,
Hartford Courant,
14 Jan. 2026
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That information is now in the hands of identity thieves and potentially hostile foreign adversaries, patiently waiting for the right moment to strike.—
Barbara McQuade,
Mercury News,
13 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Ruffian.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ruffian. Accessed 17 Jan. 2026.
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