ruffianly

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for ruffianly
Adjective
  • The banal village tunes that Mahler altered into sinister mock vulgarities—did these not recall the raffish klezmer bands, the wandering musicians who played at shtetl weddings?
    David Denby, The Atlantic, 1 Apr. 2025
  • There’s an over-the-top and overdressed fish out of water (me), a raffish Englishmen homesick for Great Britain (my husband Aidan, who will be mortified to read any of this), and an ensemble of quirky characters.
    Mosha Lundström Halbert, Vogue, 20 Dec. 2024
Adjective
  • If a single song can't propel the right emotional forward motion, maybe a dozen will do so, in the form of a riotous medley.
    Michael Barnes, Austin American Statesman, 8 July 2025
  • Next to them were dozens of baskets of impatiens (shade-loving annuals) in riotous colors.
    Barbara Ellis, Denver Post, 7 July 2025
Adjective
  • Keys’ exit left just one of the top six women in the bracket before the end of Week 1: No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, who stuck around by claiming the last five games and defeating 2021 U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu of Britain 7-6 (6), 6-4 at a boisterous Centre Court at night.
    Howard Fendrich, Baltimore Sun, 4 July 2025
  • Throughout a boisterous show with countless distorted jam sessions, White shuffled, squealed, stomped and screamed.
    Audrey Gibbs, The Tennessean, 2 July 2025
Adjective
  • The doc contains lots of footage of the rowdy crowd.
    Olivia B. Waxman, Time, 8 July 2025
  • More toward the rowdy end are the closet-sized bars of Shinjuku’s Golden Gai, a warren of grungy alleys home to snug drinking holes with obscure themes and idiosyncratic bartender-owners.
    Jessica Kozuka, Travel + Leisure, 6 July 2025
Adjective
  • Customers at Starbucks will be introduced to a new interface with a carnival-style wheel.
    Anna Kaufman, USA TODAY, 30 Mar. 2023
  • The Square has spooky carnival-style games.
    Annie Alleman, Chicago Tribune, 12 Sep. 2022
Adjective
  • Reporters were not allowed to attend the meeting, but the raucous crowd could be heard from outside.
    Vanessa Romo, NPR, 7 July 2025
  • Johnson was then lauded with the award statuette, to another round of raucous applause.
    Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 6 July 2025
Adjective
  • The two got married, had a baby, and started a quiet life together far away from his violent past.
    Allison DeGrushe Published, EW.com, 14 July 2025
  • As droves of tourists continue to flock to Spain for European summer vacations, the nation’s emergency responders are dealing with the aftermath of a violent wave of flash flooding in nearly half of the country’s 50 provinces.
    Opheli Garcia Lawler, Travel + Leisure, 14 July 2025
Adjective
  • There was something almost carnivalesque about playing baseball in such miserable conditions.
    Louisa Thomas, New Yorker, 5 May 2025
  • Before last year’s trial, the blocks surrounding the Superior Court in Dedham developed a carnivalesque atmosphere.
    Lance Reynolds, Boston Herald, 12 Apr. 2025
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Cite this Entry

“Ruffianly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ruffianly. Accessed 19 Jul. 2025.

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