Ruddy means healthily red in the face. A ruddy complexion, ruddy cheeks, ruddy from the wind.
It suggests outdoor health rather than embarrassment or drink, which is why it is a compliment about farmers and a doubtful one about anybody else. In British slang, ruddy is a mild swear word standing in for bloody — ruddy nuisance — which is why the word does two very different jobs. Note that ruddy comes from the Old English for red.
1adjectiveruddyHealthily red in the face.
“The old farmer had a ruddy face from years of working outside in the wind.”
2adjectivemildA mild swear word, in British use.
“Where are my ruddy keys? I've looked everywhere!”
ruddy is a quality of redness.
Ruddy comes from Old English rudu, redness, related to read, red. The slang intensifier is a euphemism for bloody, chosen for sounding almost like it.
Middle English
rody
English, today
ruddy
From Middle English rody. by surface analysis, rud + -y. Compare Icelandic roði (“redness”). The British slang sense expressing irritation is presumably a euphemism for bloody.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA
Practised in A Song of Ice and Fire