MEANING
1. To disturb the smoothness or order of hair, feathers, cloth, or a surface.
2. To upset someone's calm or provoke mild irritation.
3. A gathered or pleated strip of fabric used as decoration.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- ruffle feathers
- ruffle the water
On the page
A faint breeze ruffled the water.
Nearby words
Word forms
- Base
- ruffle
- Past tense
- ruffled
- Past participle
- ruffled
- Present participle
- ruffling
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- ruffle
- Present continuous
- am/is/are ruffling
- Present perfect
- have/has ruffled
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been ruffling
- Past
- ruffled
- Past continuous
- was/were ruffling
- Past perfect
- had ruffled
- Past perfect continuous
- had been ruffling
- Future
- will ruffle
- Future continuous
- will be ruffling
- Future perfect
- will have ruffled
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been ruffling
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: literary / elevated general. Forms: ruffle; ruffles; ruffled; ruffled; ruffling. Noun singular ruffle; plural ruffles. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Commonness: moderately common. Third-person singular: ruffles.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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