Home › Glossary › Letter R

ruffled

Adjective
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

An adjective meaning having frills or gathered folds; also, disturbed or unsettled; in poetry, it conveys decorative complexity or emotional agitation, often used in texture and mood.

Detailed Definition
In older or literary usage, ruffled can describe fabric trimmed with frills or gathered edges. In this poem it refers to the ghost’s hat and the decorative, old-fashioned clothing that helps make her seem delicate and genteel.
Example
Example in poetry:
“All ruffled, she had on” describes fabric gathered into folds or disturbed by wind; “ruffled” may also describe an agitated mood; “a ruffled sleeve brushed the lilacs” links costume and movement; “he answered, ruffled but quiet” shows the adjective’s emotional sense
Additional Notes
In “All ruffled,” the word is used in a clothing sense that some readers may not immediately recognize.; Found in the poem, The Little Ghost by Edna St. Vincent Millay
Also Known As
Disheveled Tumultuous Unkempt
Skip to main content