rough
Americanadjective
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having a coarse or uneven surface, as from projections, irregularities, or breaks; not smooth.
rough, red hands;
a rough road.
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shaggy or coarse.
a dog with a rough coat.
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(of an uninhabited region or large land area) steep or uneven and covered with high grass, brush, trees, stones, etc..
to hunt over rough country.
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acting with or characterized by violence.
Boxing is a rough sport.
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characterized by unnecessary violence or infractions of the rules.
It was a rough prize fight.
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violently disturbed or agitated; turbulent, as water or the air.
a rough sea.
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having a violently irregular motion; uncomfortably or dangerously uneven.
The plane had a rough flight in the storm.
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stormy or tempestuous, as wind or weather.
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sharp or harsh.
a rough temper.
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unmannerly or rude.
his rough and churlish manner;
They exchanged rough words.
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disorderly or riotous.
a rough mob.
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difficult or unpleasant.
to have a rough time of it.
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harsh to the ear; grating or jarring, as sounds.
- Synonyms:
- raucous, cacophonous, noisy
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harsh to the taste; sharp or astringent.
a rough wine.
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coarse, as food.
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lacking culture or refinement.
a rough, countrified manner.
- Synonyms:
- impolite, rude, unpolished, uncivil
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without refinements, luxuries, or ordinary comforts or conveniences.
rough camping.
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requiring exertion or strength rather than intelligence or skill.
rough manual labor.
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not elaborated, perfected, or corrected; unpolished, as language, verse, or style.
a rough draft.
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made or done without any attempt at exactness, completeness, or thoroughness; approximate or tentative.
a rough guess.
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crude, unwrought, nonprocessed, or unprepared.
rough rice.
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Phonetics. uttered with aspiration; having the sound of h; aspirated.
noun
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something that is rough, especially rough ground.
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Golf. any part of the course bordering the fairway on which the grass, weeds, etc., are not trimmed.
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the unpleasant or difficult part of anything.
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anything in its crude or preliminary form, as a drawing.
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Chiefly British. a rowdy; ruffian.
adverb
verb (used with object)
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to make rough; roughen.
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to give a beating to, manhandle, or subject to physical violence (often followed byup ).
The mob roughed up the speaker.
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to subject to some rough, preliminary process of working or preparation (often followed by down, off, orout ).
to rough off boards.
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to sketch roughly or in outline (often followed by in orout ).
to rough out a diagram;
to rough in the conversation of a novel.
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Sports. to subject (a player on the opposing team) to unnecessary physical abuse, as in blocking or tackling.
The team was penalized 15 yards for roughing the kicker.
verb (used without object)
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to become rough, as a surface.
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to behave roughly.
idioms
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in the rough, in a rough, crude, or unfinished state.
The country has an exciting potential, but civilization there is still in the rough.
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rough it, to live without the customary comforts or conveniences; endure rugged conditions.
We really roughed it on our fishing trip.
adjective
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(of a surface) not smooth; uneven or irregular
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(of ground) covered with scrub, boulders, etc
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denoting or taking place on uncultivated ground
rough grazing
rough shooting
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shaggy or hairy
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turbulent; agitated
a rough sea
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(of the performance or motion of something) uneven; irregular
a rough engine
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(of behaviour or character) rude, coarse, ill mannered, inconsiderate, or violent
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harsh or sharp
rough words
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informal severe or unpleasant
a rough lesson
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(of work, a task, etc) requiring physical rather than mental effort
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informal ill or physically upset
he felt rough after an evening of heavy drinking
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unfair or unjust
rough luck
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harsh or grating to the ear
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harsh to the taste
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without refinement, luxury, etc
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not polished or perfected in any detail; rudimentary; not elaborate
rough workmanship
rough justice
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not prepared or dressed
rough gemstones
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(of a guess, estimate, etc) approximate
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informal (of a chance) not good
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having the sound of h ; aspirated
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informal
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severe towards
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unfortunate for (a person)
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harsh words; a reprimand, rebuke, or verbal attack
noun
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rough ground
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a sketch or preliminary piece of artwork
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an unfinished or crude state (esp in the phrase in the rough )
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golf the part of the course bordering the fairways where the grass is untrimmed
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tennis squash badminton the side of a racket on which the binding strings form an uneven line
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informal a rough or violent person; thug
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the unpleasant side of something (esp in the phrase take the rough with the smooth )
adverb
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in a rough manner; roughly
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to spend the night in the open; be without a home or without shelter
verb
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(tr) to make rough; roughen
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(tr; foll by out, in, etc) to prepare (a sketch, report, piece of work, etc) in preliminary form
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informal to live without the usual comforts or conveniences of life
Other Word Forms
- overrough adjective
- overroughly adverb
- overroughness noun
- roughly adverb
- roughness noun
Etymology
Origin of rough
First recorded before 1000; Middle English (adjective and noun); Old English rūh (adjective); cognate with Dutch ruig, German rauh
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Big picture: Is a rough patch for the U.S. labor market over?
From MarketWatch
Big picture: Is a rough patch for the U.S. labor market over?
From MarketWatch
Sitting in my car under my favorite oak tree when I’d had a rough day.
From Los Angeles Times
That rough performance could worsen the losses Ford is expected to see from its Model e division, which has already cost the automaker billions of dollars over the years.
From MarketWatch
If journalism is the first draft of history, TV news is a rough, improbable sketch.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
