Meaning & use
ruddy
Last updated
Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Having a rosy or reddish color, especially in the face, usually suggesting health or time spent outdoors.
Grammar: Used before a noun or after be: a ruddy face; his cheeks were ruddy.
Patterns
- ruddy complexion
- ruddy cheeks
- ruddy glow
The farmer had a ruddy face from working outdoors.
Her cheeks were ruddy after the winter walk.
The campfire gave everyone a ruddy glow.
adjectivebefore a nouninformalBritishold-fashioned
A mild, slightly old-fashioned word used to emphasize annoyance, similar to bloody but milder.
Grammar: Used before a noun as an intensifier: that ruddy car.
Patterns
- ruddy awful
I have lost my ruddy keys again.
It was a ruddy nuisance having to wait.
Stop that ruddy noise, will you?
Word forms
| comparative | ruddier |
|---|---|
| superlative | ruddiest |
Common combinations
- ruddy complexion
- He had a ruddy complexion and a hearty laugh.
- ruddy cheeks
- The children came in with ruddy cheeks.
- ruddy glow
- The sunset cast a ruddy glow.
- ruddy face
- His ruddy face broke into a smile.
- ruddy health
- She was in ruddy health at ninety.
Synonyms and how they differ
- rosy
- Rosy is softer and more pinkish, and often suggests youth or cheer.
- florid
- Florid can suggest an unhealthy, overly red face, whereas ruddy is usually positive.
- flushed
- Flushed means temporarily red from embarrassment, heat, or fever, whereas ruddy is a lasting healthy color.
Opposites
Word family
- ruddiness noun
- the state of being ruddy
- ruddily adverb
- in a reddish way, rare
- red adjective
- the base color
- rud noun
- an old dialect word for red color
Commonly confused: ruddy or rudely? ruddy or rosy?
ruddy vs rudely
Rudely means impolitely; it sounds somewhat like ruddy but has no connection with color.
ruddy vs rosy
Rosy is pinker and often figurative, as in a rosy future, while ruddy is a deeper, outdoorsy red.
Practice
After a morning of hiking in the cold wind, everyone had ___ cheeks.
Choose one answer.
Ruddy describes the healthy red of skin after fresh air. Pallid and ashen both mean pale, which is the opposite.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “ruddy”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.