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
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
And America’s democratic allies, who well understand the importance of U.S. democratic leadership to the global cause of freedom, have been badly shaken by the images of ruffians rampaging through the world’s most powerful democratic assembly
Get unlimited access to all Foreign Affairs.
—Larry Diamond, Foreign Affairs, 7 Jan. 2021
See All Example Sentences for 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
And America’s democratic allies, who well understand the importance of U.S. democratic leadership to the global cause of freedom, have been badly shaken by the images of ruffians rampaging through the world’s most powerful democratic assembly
Get unlimited access to all Foreign Affairs.
—Larry Diamond, Foreign Affairs, 7 Jan. 2021
See All Example Sentences for ruffian
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ruffian
Noun
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At least being a thug is more lucrative than being a poet.—
Joan MacDonald,
Forbes.com,
2 Aug. 2025
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According to reporting from the Clermont Sun, Fike tweeted ‘#thug the new n word’ in April 2015 and ‘Thug life = thug treatment = no pity from me’ in July 2019.—
James Wilkins,
The Orlando Sentinel,
29 July 2025
Noun
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Temuera Morrison plays a terrific villain as the murderous King Kahekili.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
16 Aug. 2025
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Living with the aftermath Smollett in Episode 9 Courtesy of Apple TV+ Lehane never set out to create a simple morality tale with clear heroes and villains.—
JP Mangalindan,
Time,
15 Aug. 2025
Noun
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The Saturday Night Live alum, 31, and Beverly Hills Cop actor, 64, star in the action-comedy The Pickup as Travis and Russell, two security guards whose vehicle is hijacked by Zoe (Keke Palmer), a criminal on a mission to avenge her dad by robbing a casino.—
Rebecca Aizin,
People.com,
8 Aug. 2025
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Neighborhoods where residents get out and meet each other and know their law enforcement are safer and discourage criminals — that’s the thinking behind the National Night Out campaign.—
Heather McRea,
Oc Register,
7 Aug. 2025
Noun
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But Palm Beach County’s friendly neighborhood sugar cane barons might yet make out like bandits.—
Pat Beall,
The Orlando Sentinel,
27 July 2025
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And the cast, in particular Clement as Pure Evil and Lisa Kudrow as the time bandits’ leader, Penelope, were all having a great time, giving the series an infectiously gleeful energy.—
Vulture Editors,
Vulture,
23 July 2025
Noun
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The book was about how his father chose conventional family values over the life of a gangster.—
Leonard Greene,
New York Daily News,
2 Aug. 2025
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That audio clip has been shared some 60,000 times on TikTok, often by Venezuelans ridiculing the notion that everybody from their country is a gangster.—
ProPublica,
ProPublica,
23 July 2025
Noun
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Learn all about the many groups, from Native Americans to Spanish pirates to English settlers to wealthy cotton planters to enslaved people, who have lived on the island and influenced its development at the Edisto Island Museum.—
Tara Massouleh McCay,
Southern Living,
6 Aug. 2025
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John Cleese shows up as a pirate and tries to make a call from a payphone on the ship, while his parrot, who is in love with him, gripes that Cleese is neglecting her and should take her to dinner with all his doubloons.—
Sophie Brickman,
The Atlantic,
4 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Bloodsport, being an assassin who has a change of heart and becomes a hero, while also having a deep rat phobia, was fantastic.—
James Brizuela,
MSNBC Newsweek,
13 Aug. 2025
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The deal paves the way for new installments for Matt Damon’s Jason Bourne, a CIA assassin suffering from amnesia.—
Katcy Stephan,
Variety,
13 Aug. 2025
Noun
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The Nope actress stars as Zoe, a conniving thief who plots to steal an armored truck, in the heist-comedy The Pickup.—
Wesley Stenzel,
EW.com,
6 Aug. 2025
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Robert De Niro is Neil McCauley, a master thief planning a daring bank robbery with the help of his crew (including Val Kilmer, Tom Sizemore, and Danny Trejo), and Al Pacino is LAPD Lieutenant Vincent Hanna, obsessed with bringing McCauley to justice.—
Samantha Bergeson,
IndieWire,
6 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Ruffian.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ruffian. Accessed 21 Aug. 2025.
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