Rapid production of single crystalline CdS nanoribbons with hexagonal wurtzite phase has been achieved by thermal evaporation of US powder on Si wafers. The flow rate of the carrier (Ar) gas along with the synthesis temperature plays an important role in defining the size and shape of the US nanoribbons. Scanning electron and transmission electron microscopic observations revealed the nanoribbons to have a flat end as well as side surfaces which will make it ideal for optoelectronic devices such as nanolasers and light emitting diodes based on individual nanoribbons. The nanoribbons have widths within 200-400 nm and lengths approximately a few hundred micrometers. Room-temperature photoluminescence measurements show green emission centered at similar to 525 nm which may be ascribed to the near band edge emission. The Raman spectra of the US nanoribbons show peaks around 304, 609, 915, and 1220 cm(-1) corresponding to the first-, second-, third-, and fourth-order longitudinal optical phonon modes, respectively.