Rough Definition & Meaning

American

British

More Idioms

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Examples

Related Words

Synonyms rough American [ruhf] / rʌf /

adjective

rougher, roughest

1. having a coarse or uneven surface, as from projections, irregularities, or breaks; not smooth.

   rough, red hands;

   a rough road.

   Synonyms: craggy, bumpy, jagged, irregular Antonyms: regular, even, smooth

2. shaggy or coarse.

   a dog with a rough coat.

   Synonyms: bristly, hairy

3. (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.

4. acting with or characterized by violence.

   Boxing is a rough sport.

5. characterized by unnecessary violence or infractions of the rules.

   It was a rough prize fight.

6. violently disturbed or agitated; turbulent, as water or the air.

   a rough sea.

7. having a violently irregular motion; uncomfortably or dangerously uneven.

   The plane had a rough flight in the storm.

8. stormy or tempestuous, as wind or weather.

9. sharp or harsh.

   a rough temper.

10. unmannerly or rude.

    his rough and churlish manner;

    They exchanged rough words.

11. disorderly or riotous.

    a rough mob.

12. difficult or unpleasant.

    to have a rough time of it.

13. harsh to the ear; grating or jarring, as sounds.

    Synonyms: raucous, cacophonous, noisy

14. harsh to the taste; sharp or astringent.

    a rough wine.

15. coarse, as food.

16. lacking culture or refinement.

    a rough, countrified manner.

    Synonyms: impolite, rude, unpolished, uncivil

17. without refinements, luxuries, or ordinary comforts or conveniences.

    rough camping.

18. requiring exertion or strength rather than intelligence or skill.

    rough manual labor.

19. not elaborated, perfected, or corrected; unpolished, as language, verse, or style.

    a rough draft.

20. made or done without any attempt at exactness, completeness, or thoroughness; approximate or tentative.

    a rough guess.

21. crude, unwrought, nonprocessed, or unprepared.

    rough rice.

22. Phonetics. uttered with aspiration; having the sound of h; aspirated.

noun

1. something that is rough, especially rough ground.

2. Golf. any part of the course bordering the fairway on which the grass, weeds, etc., are not trimmed.

3. the unpleasant or difficult part of anything.

4. anything in its crude or preliminary form, as a drawing.

5. Chiefly British. a rowdy; ruffian.

adverb

1. in a rough manner; roughly.

verb (used with object)

roughed, roughing

1. to make rough; roughen.

2. to give a beating to, manhandle, or subject to physical violence (often followed byup ).

   The mob roughed up the speaker.

3. to subject to some rough, preliminary process of working or preparation (often followed by down, off, orout ).

   to rough off boards.

4. to sketch roughly or in outline (often followed by in orout ).

   to rough out a diagram;

   to rough in the conversation of a novel.

5. 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)

roughed, roughing

1. to become rough, as a surface.

2. to behave roughly.

idioms

1. in the rough, in a rough, crude, or unfinished state.

   The country has an exciting potential, but civilization there is still in the rough.

2. rough it, to live without the customary comforts or conveniences; endure rugged conditions.

   We really roughed it on our fishing trip.

rough British / rʌf /

adjective

1. (of a surface) not smooth; uneven or irregular

2. (of ground) covered with scrub, boulders, etc

3. denoting or taking place on uncultivated ground

   rough grazing

   rough shooting

4. shaggy or hairy

5. turbulent; agitated

   a rough sea

6. (of the performance or motion of something) uneven; irregular

   a rough engine

7. (of behaviour or character) rude, coarse, ill mannered, inconsiderate, or violent

8. harsh or sharp

   rough words

9. informal severe or unpleasant

   a rough lesson

10. (of work, a task, etc) requiring physical rather than mental effort

11. informal ill or physically upset

    he felt rough after an evening of heavy drinking

12. unfair or unjust

    rough luck

13. harsh or grating to the ear

14. harsh to the taste

15. without refinement, luxury, etc

16. not polished or perfected in any detail; rudimentary; not elaborate

    rough workmanship

    rough justice

17. not prepared or dressed

    rough gemstones

18. (of a guess, estimate, etc) approximate

19. informal (of a chance) not good

20. having the sound of h ; aspirated

21. informal

    1. severe towards

    2. unfortunate for (a person)

22. harsh words; a reprimand, rebuke, or verbal attack

"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

noun

1. rough ground

2. a sketch or preliminary piece of artwork

3. an unfinished or crude state (esp in the phrase in the rough )

4. golf the part of the course bordering the fairways where the grass is untrimmed

5. tennis squash badminton the side of a racket on which the binding strings form an uneven line

6. informal a rough or violent person; thug

7. the unpleasant side of something (esp in the phrase take the rough with the smooth )

"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

adverb

1. in a rough manner; roughly

2. to spend the night in the open; be without a home or without shelter

"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

verb

1. (tr) to make rough; roughen

2. (tr; foll by out, in, etc) to prepare (a sketch, report, piece of work, etc) in preliminary form

3. informal to live without the usual comforts or conveniences of life

"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 rough More Idioms

More idioms and phrases containing rough

• diamond in the rough
• ride roughshod over
• take the rough with the smooth
• when the going gets rough

Other Word Forms

• overrough adjective
• overroughly adverb
• overroughness noun
• roughly adverb
• roughness noun

Etymology

Origin of rough

First recorded before 1000; Middle English (adjective and noun); Old English rūh (adjective); cognate with Dutch ruig, German rauh

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.

Working a day gig and then heading to the venue nearly every day of the week was rough.

From Los Angeles Times

Every dollar counts, of course, but these are just rough estimates that will be affected by the rest of your financial situation for the year.

From MarketWatch

Still, stocks’ recent rough patch might mean investors are feeling less confident about the future than they did a couple months ago.

From Barron's

CEO Elon Musk acknowledged as much on an earnings call in July, saying Tesla could have a “few rough quarters” as a result.

From MarketWatch

However rough a given game is for the Sooners’ offense, Oklahoma is going to make absolutely sure that the other team has an even more painful day.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• coarse
• cruel
• hard
• harsh
• nasty
• raw
• tough
• unpleasant
• unpolished
• violent

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.