rough
Americanadjective
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having a coarse or uneven surface, as from projections, irregularities, or breaks; not smooth.
rough, red hands;
a rough road.
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shaggy or coarse.
a dog with a rough coat.
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(of an uninhabited region or large land area) steep or uneven and covered with high grass, brush, trees, stones, etc..
to hunt over rough country.
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acting with or characterized by violence.
Boxing is a rough sport.
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characterized by unnecessary violence or infractions of the rules.
It was a rough prize fight.
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violently disturbed or agitated; turbulent, as water or the air.
a rough sea.
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having a violently irregular motion; uncomfortably or dangerously uneven.
The plane had a rough flight in the storm.
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stormy or tempestuous, as wind or weather.
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sharp or harsh.
a rough temper.
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unmannerly or rude.
his rough and churlish manner;
They exchanged rough words.
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disorderly or riotous.
a rough mob.
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difficult or unpleasant.
to have a rough time of it.
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harsh to the ear; grating or jarring, as sounds.
- Synonyms:
- raucous, cacophonous, noisy
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harsh to the taste; sharp or astringent.
a rough wine.
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coarse, as food.
-
lacking culture or refinement.
a rough, countrified manner.
- Synonyms:
- impolite, rude, unpolished, uncivil
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without refinements, luxuries, or ordinary comforts or conveniences.
rough camping.
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requiring exertion or strength rather than intelligence or skill.
rough manual labor.
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not elaborated, perfected, or corrected; unpolished, as language, verse, or style.
a rough draft.
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made or done without any attempt at exactness, completeness, or thoroughness; approximate or tentative.
a rough guess.
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crude, unwrought, nonprocessed, or unprepared.
rough rice.
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Phonetics. uttered with aspiration; having the sound of h; aspirated.
noun
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something that is rough, especially rough ground.
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Golf. any part of the course bordering the fairway on which the grass, weeds, etc., are not trimmed.
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the unpleasant or difficult part of anything.
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anything in its crude or preliminary form, as a drawing.
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Chiefly British. a rowdy; ruffian.
adverb
verb (used with object)
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to make rough; roughen.
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to give a beating to, manhandle, or subject to physical violence (often followed byup ).
The mob roughed up the speaker.
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to subject to some rough, preliminary process of working or preparation (often followed by down, off, orout ).
to rough off boards.
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to sketch roughly or in outline (often followed by in orout ).
to rough out a diagram;
to rough in the conversation of a novel.
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Sports. to subject (a player on the opposing team) to unnecessary physical abuse, as in blocking or tackling.
The team was penalized 15 yards for roughing the kicker.
verb (used without object)
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to become rough, as a surface.
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to behave roughly.
idioms
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in the rough, in a rough, crude, or unfinished state.
The country has an exciting potential, but civilization there is still in the rough.
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rough it, to live without the customary comforts or conveniences; endure rugged conditions.
We really roughed it on our fishing trip.
adjective
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(of a surface) not smooth; uneven or irregular
-
(of ground) covered with scrub, boulders, etc
-
denoting or taking place on uncultivated ground
rough grazing
rough shooting
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shaggy or hairy
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turbulent; agitated
a rough sea
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(of the performance or motion of something) uneven; irregular
a rough engine
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(of behaviour or character) rude, coarse, ill mannered, inconsiderate, or violent
-
harsh or sharp
rough words
-
informal severe or unpleasant
a rough lesson
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(of work, a task, etc) requiring physical rather than mental effort
-
informal ill or physically upset
he felt rough after an evening of heavy drinking
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unfair or unjust
rough luck
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harsh or grating to the ear
-
harsh to the taste
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without refinement, luxury, etc
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not polished or perfected in any detail; rudimentary; not elaborate
rough workmanship
rough justice
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not prepared or dressed
rough gemstones
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(of a guess, estimate, etc) approximate
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informal (of a chance) not good
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having the sound of h ; aspirated
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informal
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severe towards
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unfortunate for (a person)
-
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harsh words; a reprimand, rebuke, or verbal attack
noun
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rough ground
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a sketch or preliminary piece of artwork
-
an unfinished or crude state (esp in the phrase in the rough )
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golf the part of the course bordering the fairways where the grass is untrimmed
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tennis squash badminton the side of a racket on which the binding strings form an uneven line
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informal a rough or violent person; thug
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the unpleasant side of something (esp in the phrase take the rough with the smooth )
adverb
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in a rough manner; roughly
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to spend the night in the open; be without a home or without shelter
verb
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(tr) to make rough; roughen
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(tr; foll by out, in, etc) to prepare (a sketch, report, piece of work, etc) in preliminary form
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informal to live without the usual comforts or conveniences of life
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of rough
First recorded before 1000; Middle English (adjective and noun); Old English rūh (adjective); cognate with Dutch ruig, German rauh
Explanation
Rough means harsh and uneven. If you want to go driving in the rough terrain of rocky dirt roads, you'll need four-wheel drive and a stomach for bouncing. Rough means coarse or bumpy, and can be used in many different ways. A few days after you shave, your skin will be rough with stubble. Rough seas are choppy and turbulent, and might make you seasick. On a rough day, lots of things go wrong. A rough person (who could be called "a rough") tends to get into fights. Someone raised on a farm in the mountains could be described as having a rough and rugged life.
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:
Following the post-pandemic boom the luxury sector hit a rough patch as the Chinese market slowed and global trade being disrupted with tariff wars and now the Middle East war.
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
The Ding plan had a rough first year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
After a rather rough month for semiconductor stocks, the bounce seen the past few days may have some wondering if the storm has passed.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026
Alexandra, we hear you occasionally talking to Sophia during some rough moments?
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
To Penelope he added, “I found your friend Faucet, too, while I was searching the woods. He’s bruised from a rough landing but in good working order otherwise.”
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
But bonds are also an excellent barometer of broader investor sentiment, particularly during times of equity market excess, and usually act as an early beacon for rougher seas ahead.
From Barron's ● Jun. 15, 2026
One especially noticeable blue-black patch in the rougher section of the valley is believed to be volcanic ash that was later redistributed by Martian winds, as seen in the accompanying 3D perspective views.
From Science Daily ● May 15, 2026
"Finally, they are making their way back on shore where, unfortunately, a lot of them are already dead or dying as they approach the coastlines and get into rougher coastal waters."
From BBC ● Feb. 20, 2026
She guides us and listens to each of us and what we need and how to make it maybe look a little bit nicer or rougher or whatever it is.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 29, 2026
But it is rougher where you are going until you make the shore.
From "The Old Man and The Sea" by Ernest Hemingway
It had the power to soothe the roughest of sore throats and quiet the phlegmiest of coughs.
From Salon ● Jul. 19, 2026
Sixteen years ago, Abdi Nor Iftin was a Somali refugee living in one of the roughest slums in Kenya when he found out he had won the lottery of a lifetime.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
"They're the roughest people you'll ever meet," Trump told the New York Post on Thursday.
From Barron's ● Jun. 12, 2026
Congolese mining towns tend to be porous and migrant-heavy, rough, difficult places to live in some of the country’s roughest, most difficult areas, where there is plenty of reason to distrust outsiders.
From Slate ● Jun. 9, 2026
I considered leaving off my boots, as feet that can run bare over Tarbean’s rooftops are in no danger of being hurt by the roughest forest floor.
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
‘Actually I, uh, roughed out a draft of it while you were at that, uh, baby thing. Do you mind?’
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 29, 2025
May has gone at least five innings in each of his five starts, getting roughed up in only one while posting a 3.95 ERA.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 30, 2025
Over the weekend, he posted a long message complaining that the New York Times was planning to report that he’d gotten roughed up, injuring his shoulder, in a sparring match with an agency jujitsu instructor.
From Slate ● Apr. 26, 2025
Now, once again, India’s corporate champion has been roughed up.
From New York Times ● Nov. 21, 2024
Pap roughed up Stanky’s neck and said, “What a dog!”
From "The Journey of Little Charlie" by Christopher Paul Curtis
“While we’ve made a lot of improvements, you still feel like you’re roughing it, and I love that.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 1, 2026
“There should have been two roughing the quarterbacks and one high hit to the head that weren’t called,” Cignetti said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 20, 2026
That's how David describes his experience of roughing it on a remote tropical beach.
From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2025
Their opponents have been called six times for roughing Mahomes and four times for unnecessary roughness.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 27, 2025
“I’m thinking someone’s patron might have been roughing it last night with a cheery little campfire ” Denna’s face fell.
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
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.
