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rough

Pronunciation: /rʌf/
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Definition of rough

adjective

  • 1having an uneven or irregular surface; not smooth or level:they had to carry the victim across the rough, stony ground her skin felt dry and rough
  • denoting the face of a tennis or squash racket on which the loops formed from the stringing process project (used as a call when the racket is spun to decide the right to serve first or to choose ends).
  • 2(of a person or their behaviour) not gentle; violent or boisterous:pushchairs should be capable of withstanding rough treatment
  • (of an area or occasion) characterized by violent behaviour:the workmen hate going to the rough estates
  • (of weather or the sea) wild and stormy:the lifeboat crew braved rough seas to rescue a couple
  • 3not finished tidily or decoratively; plain and basic:the customers sat at rough wooden tables
  • put together as a temporary measure; makeshift:he had one arm in a rough sling
  • lacking sophistication or refinement:she took care of him in her rough, kindly way
  • not fully worked out or including every detail:he had a rough draft of his new novel
  • (of stationery) used for making preliminary notes:rough paper
  • 4(of a voice) harsh and rasping:his voice was rough with barely suppressed fury
  • (of wine or another alcoholic drink) sharp or harsh in taste: he refilled the mug with rough cider
  • 5not exact or precise; approximate:they had a rough idea of when the murder took place it’ll cost about £50, at a rough guess
  • 6 informal difficult and unpleasant:the teachers gave me a rough time because my image didn’t fit
  • British hard; severe:the first day of a job is rough on everyone
  • unwell:the altitude had hit her and she was feeling rough

adverb

informal
  • in a manner that lacks gentleness; harshly or violently:treat ‘em rough but treat ’em fair

noun

  • 1chiefly British a disreputable and violent person: the rear of the column was attacked by roughs
  • 2 [mass noun] (on a golf course) longer grass around the fairway and the green:his second shot lay in the rough
  • 3a preliminary sketch:I did a rough to work out the scale of the lettering
  • 4an uncut precious stone: miners discovered one of the biggest diamond roughs in history

verb

[with object]
  • 1work or shape (something) in a rough, preliminary fashion:flat surfaces of wood are roughed down
  • (rough something out) produce a preliminary and unfinished version of something:the engineer roughed out a diagram on his notepad
  • 2make uneven:rough up the icing with a palette knife
  • 3 (rough it) informal live in discomfort with only basic necessities:she’d had to rough it alone in digs

Phrases

bit of rough

informal a male sexual partner whose toughness or lack of sophistication is a source of attraction: he could play the part of the noble savage or the bit of rough

in the rough

  • 1without decoration or other treatment; in a natural state:a diamond in the rough
  • 2in difficulties:even before the recession hit, the project was in the rough

rough and ready

crude but effective:a rough-and-ready estimating method
(of a person or place) unsophisticated or unrefined: the Hague, a town so bourgeois it makes Amsterdam seem rough and ready

rough around the edges

having a few imperfections: the text looks pretty rough around the edges

rough as bags

Australian/NZ informal lacking refinement; coarse.

the rough edge (or side) of someone's tongue

a scolding:you two stop quarrelling or you’ll get the rough edge of my tongue

rough edges

small imperfections: despite the clever programming, there are still a few rough edges to the system

rough justice

treatment that is not scrupulously fair or in accordance with the law.

rough passage

a journey over rough sea.
a difficult time or experience:the rough passage faced by the legislation

a rough ride

see ride.

rough stuff

violent behaviour: they wouldn’t have stood for any rough stuff

sleep rough

British sleep in uncomfortable conditions, typically out of doors: he spent the night sleeping rough on the streets

take the rough with the smooth

accept the unpleasant aspects of life as well as the good: someone with his high profile in sport must take the rough with the smooth

Phrasal Verbs

rough someone up

informal beat someone up:he was roughed up in jail while awaiting trial

Derivatives

roughish

adjective

roughness

noun

Origin:

Old English rūh, of West Germanic origin; related to Dutch ruw and German rauh

rough in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of rough in the US English dictionary

Nearby words

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