roughen
Americanverb (used with or without object)
-
roughens,
present (3rd person singular)
-
roughened,
past participle, past
-
roughening
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
roughensimple
-
roughenssimple
-
have roughenedperfect
-
has roughenedperfect
-
am rougheningprogressive
-
are rougheningprogressive
-
is rougheningprogressive
-
have been rougheningperfect progressive
-
has been rougheningperfect progressive
Past
-
roughenedsimple
-
had roughenedperfect
-
was rougheningprogressive
-
were rougheningprogressive
-
had been rougheningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of roughen
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.
See Examples For:
Red whirls on this rabbit’s tongue are filiform papillae, which roughen the tongue and help move food around the mouth.
From New York Times ● May 21, 2024
The general idea is that ground surfaces roughen after the mass movement of rocks and soil, so that landslide deposits are the roughest right after the landslide occurs and become smoother over time.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 7, 2023
The goal is to roughen up the surface so the paint adheres to the old polyurethane coat.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 2, 2022
“If you’re going out, I would apply Conformist Hair Paste to roughen up the texture,” he says.
From Forbes ● Jun. 10, 2014
These threads are united and twisted together and this makes a strong thread capable of withstanding any reasonable strain in the loom and it will not roughen.
From Textiles and Clothing by Kate Heintz Watson
Wells has a deep, oaky baritone that roughens to a grumble in its lower register.
From The New Yorker ● Feb. 4, 2019
Such difference there is in tongues that the same figure which roughens one, gives majesty to another; and that was it which Virgil studied in his verses.
From Discourses on Satire and on Epic Poetry by John Dryden
"We put in the clear glass, and the wind blows the sand against it and roughens the outer surface like ground glass."
From Among the Forces by Henry White Warren
The sea, perhaps because of its saltness, roughens the outside but keeps sweet the kernel of its servants' soul.
From An Outcast of the Islands by Joseph Conrad
I am sand dry as the ancient desert, and to be thirsty roughens my temper.
From The Proud Prince by Justin H. (Justin Huntly) McCarthy
Auto-tune aside, fans will notice that Thorn's voice has deepened and roughened.
From BBC ● Apr. 22, 2023
To achieve the shells’ luminous surfaces, Utzon covered them with more than a million handcrafted ceramic tiles, their surfaces roughened by trace amounts of crushed stone, a technique inspired by Japanese pottery.
From New York Times ● Aug. 2, 2021
It was more like a shift in temperature or light, a texture inside of me that roughened.
From New York Times ● Mar. 31, 2021
He sang his conversational lyrics in a voice roughened by a hard-luck life, particularly after throat cancer left him with a disfigured jaw.
From Washington Times ● Apr. 7, 2020
They stretched taller, and the soft, pale bark darkened, roughened.
From "Ash" by Malinda Lo
Though it may seem counterintuitive, roughening a ball’s surface delays the separation of the boundary layer and keeps a ball in turbulent flow longer.
From Scientific American ● Nov. 19, 2022
“When I close my eyes, I can still feel that moment,” said the other daughter, Samia, her voice roughening as her eyes filled with tears.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 31, 2022
Instead he interprets traditional Yolngu chants, raising and roughening his gentle voice while a Western orchestra plays churning, minimalist accompaniments around him.
From New York Times ● Jul. 13, 2018
Wilmington’s Council had been closing shortfalls of 5 percent to 10 percent for several years, and the compounding effect was roughening the edges of a city that aggressively marketed its coastal quality of life.
From New York Times ● Jul. 5, 2011
My throat began to ache and my voice dropped, roughening into a deep crackle, as if my vocal cords had turned to sandpaper.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
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.
