Wiktionary

ruddy

See also: Ruddy

English

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WOTD – 3 October 2007

Etymology

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From Middle English ruddy, rody, rudi, from Old English rudiġ (“reddish; ruddy”), from rudu (“redness”), equivalent to rud (“redness”) +‎ -y. Compare Icelandic roði (“redness”).

The British slang sense expressing irritation is presumably a euphemism for bloody.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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ruddy (comparative ruddier, superlative ruddiest)

  1. Reddish in color, especially of the face, fire, or sky.
    • 1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 143:
      Drystone walls, farm buildings and stone cottages, roofed with ruddy tiles, line the way and blend gently into the surrounding countryside.
    • 2020 September 1, Tom Lamont, “The butcher's shop that lasted 300 years (give or take)”, in The Guardian‎[1]:
      Frank, who is narrow and ruddy, and who tended to wear a shirt and tie with a cherry-red beanie pulled low over one ear, swapped his white butcher’s coat for a puffer jacket, and led me outside
  2. Robust and vigorous, like a person with a red complexion (as compared to a pale one).
    in ruddy health
  3. (British, Australia, slang, not comparable) A mild intensifier, expressing irritation.
    • 1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, “XVIII AND XX”, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:
      “Of all the damn silly fatheaded things!” she vociferated, if that's the word. “With a million ruddy names to choose from, these ruddy Creams call one ruddy son Wilbert and the other ruddy son Wilfred, and both these ruddy sons are known as Willie. Just going out of their way to mislead the innocent bystander. You'd think people would have more consideration.”
    • 1991, Lynn Johnston, What, Me Pregnant? (For Better or For Worse) (comic), page 37:
      Michael, you have been sitting on your butt for the last two hours! Why didn't you mow the ruddy lawn?!!
    • 1999, J. K. Rowling, chapter 2, in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Bloomsbury:
      I shall monitor your behaviour carefully during Marge’s visit. If, at the end of it, you’ve toed the line and kept to the story, I’ll sign your ruddy form.
    • 2017, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], Bad Dad, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN:
      If he moved a muscle, they would both be in DEEP TROUBLE.
      “It must have been a bird, Mr Big,” said Dad.
      “Ruddy big bird,” muttered the little man. “Now we have to get out of here before the fuzz start sniffing around. Fingers, get the Rolls resprayed and change the number plates in case they trace it.”
      “Yes, guv’nor.”

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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Adverb

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ruddy (not comparable)

  1. (British, slang) A mild intensifier, expressing irritation.
    • 2009 October 29, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], Mr Stink, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN:
      “So, you made quite a splash on Question Time, my homeless pal,” he continued. “Ruddy hilarious. Ha ha ha!”
    • 2017, June Francis, When the Clouds Go Rolling By:
      'You're not ruddy going anywhere,' he said, slamming the door behind him.

Noun

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ruddy (plural ruddies)

  1. (informal) A ruddy duck.
    • 2007 November 4, Deborah Baldwin, “Close to Nature, and the Airport”, in New York Times‎[2]:
      In winter, snow geese land at West Pond, a Robert Moses legacy that ought to be called Duck Soup: at this time of year look for ruddies, greater scaups, Northern pintails, American widgeons and gadwalls.
  2. (informal) A ruddy ground dove.
    • 1987, Jürgen Nicolai, A Complete Introduction to Finches, Tfh Publications Incorporated, →ISBN, page 89:
      Ground doves — two ruddies are shown here — are so called because they feed on the ground.
    • 1994, Birding, page 298:
      Understandably, birders in the U.S. are advised to carefully distinguish Ruddies from the usually more-expected Common Ground-Doves [...]. (Brightly-colored, pinkish adult male Common Ground-Doves have been misidentified as male Ruddies on several occasions, however.) Unless the fortunate birder happens upon a Ruddy Ground-Dove amongst a flock of sparrows, it will often be necessary to sort through innumerable Inca Doves.
    • 2005, Richard Cachor Taylor, A Birder's Guide to Southeastern Arizona, page 237:
      Common Ground-Dove — Fairly common permanent resident of better-watered valleys at lower elevations. Avoids town [...] Ironically, Ruddies often ignore the little flocks of closely related Commons, and choose to associate with Inca Doves.
    • 2008, Jim Burns, Jim Burns' Arizona Birds: From the Backyard to the Backwoods, University of Arizona Press, →ISBN, page 28:
      Out-of-state birders seeking Ruddy Ground Doves should be aware of two things. Ruddies associate much more frequently with Inca Doves than with Common Ground Doves. In fact, in eleven personal sightings of this species in Arizona, I have never seen a Ruddy with a Common nor has anyone else I know. [...] Perhaps this is a slow invasion, and forty years hence Ruddies will be so common ...

Verb

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ruddy (third-person singular simple present ruddies, present participle ruddying, simple past and past participle ruddied)

  1. (transitive) To make reddish in colour.
    The sunset ruddied our faces.

See also

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