rough, rude, or crude, but good enough for the purpose.
a rough-and-ready estimate of future expenses.
exhibiting or showing rough vigor rather than refinement or delicacy.
a cowboy—the rough-and-ready type.
crude, unpolished, or hastily prepared, but sufficient for the purpose
(of a person) without formality or refinement; rudely vigorous
First recorded in 1800–10
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Some showstopping pieces were sold at Vivienne Westwood’s London shop Seditionaries, which revolutionized a rough-and-ready pop-culture style that still resonates to this day.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 2026
To call this the rough-and-ready style of a workshop would not do as an excuse: A workshop requires workmanship.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 20, 2026
The rough-and-ready stemmed projectile points, made from whatever rocks were on hand, differ significantly from so-called Clovis points.
From Science Magazine ● Dec. 22, 2022
According to an annual survey of new vehicle owners from the consumer-research firm Strategic Vision, the vast majority almost never employ their rough-and-ready vehicles for towing or off-roading.
From Slate ● Feb. 2, 2022
The transition from the chaotic, individualistic, rough-and-ready nature of 1920s jazz to a more streamlined form of swing in the 1930s was mirrored in other musical genres.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
Only the rough and ready Expendables can thwart Armageddon and blah, blah, blah.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 22, 2023
It was the rough and ready Nigel Benn against self-styled traditional Englishman Chris Eubank - he walked around with a cane and monocle for goodness sake!
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2022
This rough and ready character, in Melissa McCarthy’s case, and this buttoned-up FBI agent.
From Slate ● May 31, 2019
It’s a bit rough and ready, but their physical approach is definitely disrupting Senegal’s flow.
From The Guardian ● Jan. 28, 2017
I remember thinking that there were times when the rough and ready humor of this burgher was in very bad taste.
From Adventures in Swaziland The Story of a South African Boer by O'Neil, Owen Rowe
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.
