rugged
Americanadjective
-
having a roughly broken, rocky, hilly, or jagged surface.
rugged ground.
- Antonyms:
- smooth
-
(of a face) wrinkled or furrowed, as by experience or the endurance of hardship.
-
roughly irregular, heavy, or hard in outline or form; craggy.
Lincoln's rugged features.
-
rough, harsh, or stern, as persons or nature.
- Synonyms:
- austere
- Antonyms:
- mild
-
full of hardship and trouble; severe; hard; trying.
a rugged life.
-
tempestuous; stormy.
rugged weather.
- Synonyms:
- turbulent
-
harsh to the ear.
rugged sounds.
- Synonyms:
- cacophonous, grating
-
rude, uncultivated, or unrefined.
- Synonyms:
- crude, unpolished
-
homely or plain.
rugged fare.
-
capable of enduring hardship, wear, etc.; strong and tough.
rugged floor covering; a rugged lumberjack.
- Antonyms:
- frail
adjective
-
having an uneven or jagged surface
-
rocky or steep
rugged scenery
-
(of the face) strong-featured or furrowed
-
rough, severe, or stern in character
-
without refinement or culture; rude
rugged manners
-
involving hardship; harsh
he leads a rugged life in the mountains
-
difficult or hard
a rugged test
-
(of equipment, machines, etc) designed to withstand rough treatment or use in rough conditions
a handheld rugged computer which can survive being submerged in water
-
sturdy or strong; robust
Other Word Forms
- ruggedly adverb
- ruggedness noun
- unrugged adjective
Etymology
Origin of rugged
1300–50; Middle English < Scandinavian; compare Swedish rugga to roughen (of cloth); rug
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.
What solutions are lawmakers representing conservative rural districts in the state’s rugged northern reaches pushing forward?
From Los Angeles Times
At Aeronautical Industry, engineers are racing to help the military adapt to a battlefield reshaped by drones, designing rugged, military-grade unmanned vehicles meant to give troops surveillance, reconnaissance and real-time intelligence.
They are agile and use motorbikes to move quickly cross the region's rough and rugged terrain.
From BBC
The rugged hills surrounding Ganzhou are home to the world's largest mining and processing operations of the strategic "heavy" elements, including dysprosium, yttrium and terbium.
From Barron's
Aside from the horse, the wolf is probably the four-legged animal most associated with the mixed American mythos of rugged independence and family values.
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.
