- 1暴徒、惡棍（偏書面、較舊）
A ruffian is a violent man, the sort who hits people and is mixed up in crime. In older stories he is the street thug, the hired tough, the man you would not want to meet in a dark alley. The word sounds a little old-fashioned now — police reports and news more often say thug, attacker, or gang member — but writers still like ruffian because it has a colour of old streets and rough company. It is almost always used of men; calling a woman a ruffian would sound odd or . Though actually, the word did not start as violent man. It came into English from French, and before that from Italian ruffiano, which meant a pimp. English kept the low, bad man feeling and shifted it toward violence and street crime.
組成From Middle French rufian, from Italian ruffiano, pimp. Not from English rough, even though they sound close and the meaning feels close — that is a trap for the ear.
同家族的字
- ruffianlylike a ruffian, in manner or look
原始詞典資料5 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
ruffiannoun/ˈɹʌfi.ən/
- 1
A scoundrel, rascal, or unprincipled, deceitful, brutal and unreliable person.
- What wilt thou on thy death-bed play the Ruffian?
- It was at Count Siloszech's. He'd heard her sing in the streets, with a tall, black-bearded ruffian, who accompanied her on a guitar, and a little fiddling gypsy fellow. She was a handsome woman, with hair down to her knees, but stupid as an owl.
- 2
obsoleteA pimp; a pander.
- 3
obsoleteA lover; a paramour.
- He [her husband] is no sooner abroad than she is instantly at home, revelling with her ruffians.
ruffianverb/ˈɹʌfi.ən/
- 1
To play the ruffian; to rage; to raise tumult.
- Methinks the wind does speak aloud at land; A fuller blast ne'er shook our battlements. If it hath ruffianed so upon the sea.
ruffianadj/ˈɹʌfi.ən/
- 1
Brutal, cruel, ruffianlike.
- ruffian rage
摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。