cruff meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

cruff

adj

Etymology Unknown. Compare scruff (“one with untidy appearance”), scurf (“skin disease; dandruff”). Compare also cruft, crufty (“of inferior quality”); gruff (“rough, unpolished”).

Caribbean Crude, rough, uncouth, tough.

Dem gwan like ooman strong like man An cruff an rough an hard!1982, Louise Bennett-Coverley, “Tan-up Seat”, in Selected Poems:
but if he looks a bit cruff ... an’ he says, ‘Wa ’appen, son. Wa gwaan’, an’ all dem tings der, an’ you start to speak to him in English, then you just break into the Jamaican habit – patois1986, Roger Hewitt, quoting an anonymous black British informant, White Talk Black Talk: Inter-racial Friendship and Communication amongst Adolescents, page 108:

cruff

noun

Etymology Unknown. Compare scruff (“one with untidy appearance”), scurf (“skin disease; dandruff”). Compare also cruft, crufty (“of inferior quality”); gruff (“rough, unpolished”).

Caribbean A person who is uncouth, crude, or tough.

Rufus was a Barbadian cruff Who got the news how Miss Ida rough. Rufus say, “Jamaica bwoi too light, So I am going to show them how to fight.”1955, “Rough Rider”, Alerth Bedasse (lyrics), Everard Williams (music):
“But the miserable cruff never did come back. He abandoned us! They say he went off into the woods to grow some exotic crop.” “Exotic Jamaican crop? It could be anything.”2024 September 9, Bill Odenkirk, “Planet Espresso” (2:48 from the start), in Futurama, season 12, episode 7, spoken by Hermes Conrad (Phil LaMarr):

Caribbean, Derogatory, Often A lazy person; someone of little value.

“You still the living bumpkin from the land of Oz!” “And you’re still a cruff wid no gyal!”2023, Alex Wheatle, Sufferah: Memoir of a Brixton Reggae Head, page 85: