rough stuff

nounInformal.

violence, as physical assault, torture or shooting.
unnecessary violence or infractions of the rules, as in sports.

blatant vulgarity or obscenity.

Origin of rough stuff

First recorded in 1885–90

Words Nearby rough stuff

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use rough stuff in a sentence

Positive relationships often serve as a buffer for the rough stuff in life.
How to Raise Resilient Kids | Julia Pelly | March 2, 2021 | Time
But there were no beatings, no waterboarding, no rough stuff at all.
What It’s Like to Be Snatched by the Delta Force | Michael Daly | October 9, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
It's good practice for the rough stuff to come, when we blast out!
The Planet Strappers | Raymond Zinke Gallun
As a matter of fact, they did it rather violently—a good deal more like movie rough stuff than the real thing.
Sea-Hounds | Lewis R. Freeman
I know exactly what is inside—rough stuff, bought to maintain my disguise as a vaquero, but all the better for present purposes.
His Unknown Wife | Louis Tracy

Usually the boys who do the rough stuff in a case like this know little of what is really going on.
Agent Nine Solves His First Case | Graham M. Dean
You never heard of me starting any rough stuff when there was a pinch coming off, did you?
From Place to Place | Irvin S. Cobb

British Dictionary definitions for rough stuff

rough stuff

noun

informal violence

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Browse