RUFFIAN Meaning of RUFFIAN in English ■ noun a violent or lawless person.Derivatives~ism noun~ly adjective OriginC15: from OFr. ~ , from Ital. ~o , perh. from dialect rofia 'scab, scurf', of Gmc origin. Concise Oxford English vocab. Сжатый оксфордский словарь английского языка. 2004