ruffian 
ruffian
Definition
ruf·fian (ruf′ē ən, ruf′yən)
noun
a brutal, violent, lawless person; tough or hoodlum
Etymology: Fr rufian < It ruffiano, a pander < dial. roffia, filth < Gmc *hruf-, scurf (akin to OHG ruf, OE hreof) < IE base *kreup- > Lith kraupus, rough: E sense infl. by rough
adjective
brutal, violent, and lawless
ruf′·fi·an·ism′ noun
ruffian
Synonyms
ruffian
Usage Examples
Converse of object
- let: After the murder the captain let the two ruffians go ashore and locked himself in his cabin.
- see: From his eye, he saw a third ruffian hurtle backward into the bushes.
Adjective modifier
- old: Yond old ruffian is not for the priest: I do not like a new clerk should come in the old belfry.
- cowardly: Ten cowardly ruffians I saw upon one unarmed man, beating him with their clubs, till they felled him to the ground.
- dangerous: They were subduing, for want of a better word, some dangerous ruffian.
- local: The landlady tells Deborah off for sitting " on the garden " while ignoring the local ruffian rolling a joint by the front door.
ruffian Quotes
But ruffian stern, and soldier good, The noble and the slave, From various cause the same wild road, On the same bloody morning, trode, To that dark innöthe Grave!
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