rugged

[ ruhg-id ]

/ ˈrʌg ɪd /

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adjective

having a roughly broken, rocky, hilly, or jagged surface: rugged ground.

(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.

full of hardship and trouble; severe; hard; trying: a rugged life.

tempestuous; stormy: rugged weather.

harsh to the ear: rugged sounds.

rude, uncultivated, or unrefined.

homely or plain: rugged fare.

capable of enduring hardship, wear, etc.; strong and tough: rugged floor covering; a rugged lumberjack.

Nearby words

Origin of rugged

1300–50; Middle English < Scandinavian; compare Swedish rugga to roughen (of cloth); cf. rug

SYNONYMS FOR rugged

1. uneven, irregular, craggy. 4. austere. 6. turbulent. 7. grating, cacophonous. 8. unpolished, crude.

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ANTONYMS FOR rugged

1. smooth. 4. mild. 10. frail.

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Related formsrug·ged·ly, adverbrug·ged·ness, nounun·rug·ged, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for ruggedness

But thanks to work done in the 1960s and 1970s, “it is still seen as a representation of American Western ruggedness.”
Yes We Can Still Market: Why U.S. Brands Remain World’s Most Valuable|Daniel Gross|June 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST
She merely had not the ruggedness, the resistance, needed to go on living among the rough winds of this world.
Aurora the Magnificent|Gertrude Hall
But in Paradise Regained it is severe to bareness, and in Samson, even to ruggedness.
From Chaucer to Tennyson|Henry A. Beers
All the ruggedness of the intervening hill-country was likewise effectively brought out.
Passages From The American Notebooks, Volume 2|Nathaniel Hawthorne

Latinist though he was, he did not despise the national literature in spite of its ruggedness.
A Literary History of the English People|Jean Jules Jusserand
Covered with ice, it was only to be distinguished from land by its superior wildness and ruggedness.
Frankenstein|Mary W. Shelley

British Dictionary definitions for ruggedness

rugged

/ (ˈrʌɡɪd) /

adjective

having an uneven or jagged surface

rocky or steeprugged scenery

(of the face) strong-featured or furrowed

rough, severe, or stern in character

without refinement or culture; ruderugged manners

involving hardship; harshhe leads a rugged life in the mountains

difficult or harda rugged test

(of equipment, machines, etc) designed to withstand rough treatment or use in rough conditionsa handheld rugged computer which can survive being submerged in water

mainly US and Canadian sturdy or strong; robust

Derived Formsruggedly, adverbruggedness, noun

Word Origin for rugged

C14: from Scandinavian; compare Swedish rugga to make rough

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for ruggedness

rugged

adj.

c.1300, "rough, shaggy, careworn" (originally of animals), from Old Norse rogg "shaggy tuft" (see rug). "The precise relationship to ragged is not quite clear, but the stem is no doubt ultimately the same" [OED]. Meaning "vigorous, strong, robust" is American English, by 1848.

We were challenged with a peace-time choice between the American system of rugged individualism and a European philosophy of diametrically opposed doctrines -- doctrines of paternalism and state socialism. [Herbert Hoover, speech in New York, Oct. 22, 1928]

Hoover said the phrase was not his own, and it is attested from 1897, though not in a patriotic context. Related: Ruggedly; ruggedness.

rugged

adjective

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Origin of rugged

Examples from the Web for ruggedness

rugged

adjective

Word Origin for rugged

rugged