Rough

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɹʌf/
• Rhymes: -ÊŒf
• Homophones: ruff

Alternative forms

• colloquial ruff

Origin

From Old English rūh, from Proto-Germanic *rūhaz, cognate with West Frisian rûch ("rough"), Low Saxon (Low German) ruuch ("rough"), High German rau ("rough"), (old spelling) rauh ("rough"), Middle High German rûch ("rough"), (variants) ''rûhe, rûh, rouch.

Full definition of rough

Adjective

1. Having a texture that has much friction. Not smooth; uneven.
• 1922, Virginia Woolf, Jacob's Room Chapter 1The rock was one of those tremendously solid brown, or rather black, rocks which emerge from the sand like something primitive. Rough with crinkled limpet shells and sparsely strewn with locks of dry seaweed, a small boy has to stretch his legs far apart, and indeed to feel rather heroic, before he gets to the top.
2. Approximate; hasty or careless; not finished.a rough estimate; a rough sketch of a building
3. Turbulent.The sea was rough.
4. Difficult; trying.Being a teenager nowadays can be rough.
5. Crude; unrefinedHis manners are a bit rough, but he means well.
6. Violent; not careful or subtleThis box has been through some rough handling.
7. Loud and hoarse; offensive to the ear; harsh; grating.a rough tone; a rough voice
8. Not polished; uncut; said of a gem.a rough diamond
9. Harsh-tasting.rough wine

Antonyms

• smooth

Noun

1. The unmowed part of a golf course.
2. A rude fellow; a coarse bully; a rowdy.
3. (cricket) A scuffed and roughened area of the pitch, where the bowler's feet fall, used as a target by spin bowlers because of its unpredictable bounce.
4. The raw material from which faceted or cabochon gems are created.
5. A quick sketch, similar to a thumbnail, but larger and more detailed. Meant for artistic brainstorming and a vital step in the design process.
6. (obsolete) Boisterous weather.

Verb

1. To create in an approximate form.Rough in the shape first, then polish the details.
2. To physically assault someone in retribution.The gangsters roughed him up a little.
3. (ice hockey) To commit the offense of roughing, i.e. to punch another player.
4. To render rough; to roughen.
5. To break in (a horse, etc.), especially for military purposes.

Adverb

1. In a rough manner; rudely; roughly.
• Sir Walter ScottSleeping rough on the trenches, and dying stubbornly in their boats.

Derived terms