RUDDY (ruddier, ruddiest)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: ruddier    , ruddiest   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does ruddy mean? 

• RUDDY (adjective)
  The adjective RUDDY has 2 senses:

1. inclined to a healthy reddish color often associated with outdoor life

2. of a color at the end of the color spectrum (next to orange); resembling the color of blood or cherries or tomatoes or rubies

  Familiarity information: RUDDY used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• RUDDY (adjective)

Comparative: ruddier   
Superlative: ruddiest   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Inclined to a healthy reddish color often associated with outdoor life

Synonyms:

florid; rubicund; ruddy; sanguine

Context example:

a fresh and sanguine complexion

Similar:

healthy (having or indicating good health in body or mind; free from infirmity or disease)

Derivation:

ruddiness (a healthy reddish complexion)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Of a color at the end of the color spectrum (next to orange); resembling the color of blood or cherries or tomatoes or rubies

Synonyms:

blood-red; carmine; cerise; cherry; cherry-red; crimson; red; reddish; ruby; ruby-red; ruddy; scarlet

Similar:

chromatic (being or having or characterized by hue)

Derivation:

ruddiness (a healthy reddish complexion)

 Context examples 

These ruddy spots must be the reflection of fires within the caves—fires which could only be lit by the hand of man.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Von Bork started violently, and his ruddy face turned a shade paler.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

By the door a horse stood tethered, the ruddy glow beating strongly upon his brown head and patient eyes, while his body stood back in the shadow.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Mr. Laurence's ruddy face changed suddenly, and he sat down, with a troubled glance at the picture of a handsome man, which hung over his table.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

These eyes were, perhaps, his strangest feature, for they were of a very clear and beautiful blue, which shone the brighter out of that ruddy setting.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

His age may have been nearer forty than thirty, but his cheeks were so ruddy and his eyes so merry that he still conveyed the impression of a plump and mischievous boy.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I was glad to see her paleness and her illness, for my mind was full of the fresh horror of that ruddy vampire sleep.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Yes; with the right eye I see a glow—a ruddy haze.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

An old man now, but in a ruddy, hearty, strong old age.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

The first who entered was a little Ribston pippin of a man, with ruddy cheeks and fluffy white side-whiskers.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)