noun
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the coarse indigestible constituents of food or fodder, which provide bulk to the diet and promote normal bowel function See also dietary fibre
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any rough or coarse material
Etymology
Origin of roughage
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.
The effects of fibre were first discovered in the 1970s, when it was believed that fibre was just "hard roughage stuff" that helped our bodies get rid of waste, explains Whelan.
From BBC ● Jan. 16, 2026
Awards season always brings a parade of Very Important Cinema to theaters, most of which have the appeal of roughage.
From Salon ● Nov. 22, 2024
They eat a lot of plant material and roughage.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022
Although this heap of roughage looks as if it should be taken for medicinal purposes only, the greens have lost their ferocious raw quality after being thoroughly kneaded with a Caesar-like dressing.
From New York Times ● Jan. 31, 2022
The intestines were evidently intended for a little roughage, and it might as well come partly from wheat as from other sources.
From Maintaining Health Formerly Health and Efficiency by Alsaker, R. L.
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.
