Ruffed

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /ɹʌft/

Definitions

1. Having a decorative frill or gathered strip of fabric or feathers ; exhibiting feathers that stand out around the neck area of a bird
2. Characterized by a gathered or pleated edging in clothing or decoration ; showing a collar of feathers fluffed up around the neck in birds
3. Possessing a decorative, often circular fabric trim ; bearing a distinct neck ring of feathers that is raised or puffed out

Etymology: The past tense of "ruff" is the one that matters here, and "ruff" itself has a surprisingly card-table origin. Its noun sense, the stiff pleated collar worn in the 16th and 17th centuries, is probably a clipping of "ruffle," though it may instead come from "rough," a plausible link since such collars were gathered into rough, crimped folds. The verb grew out of that noun, so to "ruff" something is to furnish it with a ruff or to erect feathers into one. Meanwhile, the word "ruff" also names a card game similar to whist, borrowed in the Middle Ages from Old French "roffle" or Italian "ronfa." Those forms trace back, probably, to the same Italian "trionfo" that became "trump" in English, and ultimately to Latin "triumphus" and the Greek "thriambos," a hymn to Dionysus. Because "ruff" and "trump" are doublets, two English words from one source, the game and the collar are unrelated in English usage despite sharing a name.

Synonyms: frilled, shaggy

Antonyms: smooth