ruffian

/ˈrʌfiən/

Other forms: ruffians

A ruffian is a bully, someone who is violent toward others. Maybe they had a bad childhood, or perhaps they like the sound of people in pain. No matter where they come from, ruffians are best avoided.

Soccer fans have a reputation for being ruffians. Sure, some are sensitive poetry-reading types, but the ones that get the most attention scream obscenities, break things, and fight each other. Ruffian comes from a Germanic word that literally translates as “scabbiness,” and perhaps ruffians are covered in scabs from all the fights they start. Sometimes a ruffian is a person involved in crime, however, the word is always used to describe someone who’s a cruel, violent jerk.

Definitions of ruffian

1. noun

   a cruel and brutal fellow
   synonyms: bully, hooligan, roughneck, rowdy, tough, yob, yobbo, yobo

   types:

   bullyboy

   a swaggering tough; usually one acting as an agent of a political faction

   muscle, muscleman

   a bully employed as a thug or bodyguard

   skinhead

   a young person who belongs to a British or American group that shave their heads and gather at rock concerts or engage in white supremacist demonstrations

   plug-ugly, tough guy

   someone who bullies weaker people

   Ted, Teddy boy

   a tough youth of 1950's and 1960's wearing Edwardian style clothes

   type of:

   aggressor, assailant, assaulter, attacker

   someone who attacks