rough it

Save This Word!

Do without the usual comforts and conveniences, as in We spent our vacation roughing it in a log cabin. This idiom was first recorded in 1768. Mark Twain used it as the title of an account of his experiences in Nevada (Roughing It, 1872).

QUIZ

ARE YOU A TRUE BLUE CHAMPION OF THESE "BLUE" SYNONYMS?

We could talk until we're blue in the face about this quiz on words for the color "blue," but we think you should take the quiz and find out if you're a whiz at these colorful terms.

Question 1 of 8

Which of the following words describes “sky blue”?

navy

beryl

azure

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Meet Grammar Coach

Write or paste your essay, email, or story into Grammar Coach and get grammar help

Improve Your Writing

Meet Grammar CoachImprove Your Writing

Words nearby rough it

roughhouse, roughie, roughing-in, roughing mill, roughish, rough it, rough-legged buzzard, rough-legged hawk, rough lemon, rough lock, roughly

How to use rough it in a sentence

Terrorism is bad news anywhere, but especially rough on Odessa, where the city motto seems to be “make love, not war.”
Is Putin Turning to Terrorism in Ukraine?|Anna Nemtsova|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Gurley was gunned down on Nov. 20, when a pair of cops was patrolling the rough housing project.
Protesters Demand Justice For Gurley As Gap Grows Between Cops and NYC|M.L. Nestel|December 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Originally conceived by author Clarence E. Mulford in 1904, Hopalong was crude, rough-talking, and dangerous.
The Most Confusing Christmas Music Lyrics Explained (VIDEO)|Kevin Fallon|December 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
CEO Michael Lynton showed a rough cut of the movie to U.S. officials before moving ahead.
Exclusive: Sony Emails Say State Department Blessed Kim Jong-Un Assassination in ‘The Interview’|William Boot|December 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Hitchcock loved to tell stories, elaborate, complicated rough drafts for movies he would never make.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days|David Freeman|December 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The camp grew still, except for the rough and ready cook pottering about the fire, boiling buffalo-meat and mixing biscuit-dough.
Raw Gold|Bertrand W. Sinclair
It was only a hut of rough boards, carelessly knocked together for a shepherd's temporary home.
Ramona|Helen Hunt Jackson
He reached up for her big, rough straw hat that hung on a peg outside the door, and put it on her head.
The Awakening and Selected Short Stories|Kate Chopin
England proclaimed a rough indignation at the demand for Gibraltar, which Austria had made in behalf of Spain.
The Pastor's Fire-side Vol. 3 of 4|Jane Porter
The advance had to be carefully made, for the country was rough, wooded, and covered with a dense undergrowth of bushes.
The Courier of the Ozarks|Byron A. Dunn