ruffler

/ˈɹʌflə/

Etymology

From ruffle + -er.

Why this word is great

RUFFLER — [Noun] A rogue or scoundrel, historically a beggar feigning injury to exploit charity, or a mechanical device for pleating fabric. From 'ruffle' (to disturb or disorder) + '-er' (agent noun suffix). Unlike 'swashbuckler' (which romanticizes daring) or 'bully' (which reduces cruelty to blunt force), 'ruffler' carries the whiff of theatrical deceit—a performance of suffering for coin. It is the limp exaggerated for pity, the tattered sleeve artfully arranged over healthy limbs, the whirring gears of the sewing machine pressing cloth into ornamental submission—a word that knows disorder is sometimes a craft.

noun

  1. A ruffian, bully, or villain, especially a 16th-17th-century vagabond operating under the guise of a maimed soldier or sailor.“1840-1841, Charles Dickens, Master Humphrey's Clock […] and then how he grasped his club and longed to do battle with a dozen rufflers, for the love of Mistress Alice!”
  2. A sewing machine attachment for making ruffles.