roughshod
Americanadjective
idioms
adjective
adverb
Etymology
Origin of roughshod
Explanation
Roughshod means "brutal" or "without regard for the rules." If someone ignores established rules and regulations, they run roughshod over the law. You'll nearly always find this word alongside "run" or "ride," as when a power-hungry politician rides roughshod over anyone who stands in the way of his success. We get this figurative term from the original meaning of roughshod, used to describe a horse whose metal shoes have sharp, protruding nails. This was done to prevent slipping, but during wartime it resulted in terrible damage to trampled soldiers. If you've been brutalized, you may feel someone's run roughshod over you.
Vocabulary lists containing roughshod
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.
Meanwhile, Ohio State spent the first half running roughshod over the Longhorns’ defense.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026
“They would run roughshod over the city,” said Stuart Waldman, president of the Valley Industry and Commerce Assn.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 22, 2026
Just days later, a federal judge ruled that Miller had “run roughshod over the constitutional rights of eligible and ineligible recipients alike” and restored the payments he cut.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026
Critics say PSNs are being used for projects with minimal domestic benefit, including industrial zones managed by foreign companies, and allow developers to ride roughshod over environmental and rights protections.
From Barron's ● Oct. 17, 2025
They ran roughshod over the whole county—tearing down fences so the cows would get loose, helping themselves to everybody’s crops, and stealing the storekeeper blind.
From "The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs" by Betty G. Birney
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
