Pronunciations (5)
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/ɹʌf/
Pronunciation notes
- General-American
- Received-Pronunciation
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/ɹɐf/
Pronunciation notes
- Australia
- New-Zealand
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/ɹʊf/
Pronunciation notes
- Northern-England
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/ɾʌf/
Pronunciation notes
- Scotland
- Wales
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ɹʌf
Adjective
Not smooth; uneven.
- Antonyms
- Examples
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rough hands
rough stone
More examples (2)
rough surface
The 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.
Approximate; hasty or careless; not finished.
- Examples
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a rough copy
a rough estimate
More examples (3)
a rough guess
a rough plan
a rough sketch of a building
Turbulent.
- Synonyms
- Examples
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rough sea
rough water
More examples (2)
rough weather
With my mother's permission and blessings, I set off exultantly for Bombay, leaving my wife with a baby of a few months. But on arrival there, friends told my brother that the Indian Ocean was rough in June and July, and as this was my first voyage, I should not be allowed to sail until November.
Difficult; trying.
- Synonyms
- Examples
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Being a teenager nowadays can be rough.
Crude; unrefined.
- Examples
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His manners are a bit rough, but he means well.
Worn; shabby; weather-beaten.
- Synonyms
- Examples
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"You find us a bit rough," apologized the young man, with something of contempt towards his surroundings. "We weren't expecting visitors."
Having socio-economic problems, hence possibly dangerous.
Usage- of a place
- Examples
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the rough bit of town
Violent; not careful or subtle.
- Examples
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rough words
This box has been through some rough handling.
Loud and hoarse; offensive to the ear; harsh; grating.
- Synonyms
- Examples
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a rough tone
a rough voice
More examples (1)
But most by Numbers judge a Poet's song, / And smooth or rough, with them
Not polished; uncut.
Usage- of a gem
- Synonyms
- Examples
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a rough diamond
Harsh-tasting.
- Synonyms
- Examples
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rough wine
the wine, rough as it is, more wholesome than the half-melted ices, flavored with unholy essences.
Somewhat ill; sick; in poor condition.
Usage- Ireland
- UK usage
- Colloquial
- Slang
Unwell due to alcohol; hungover.
Usage- Ireland
- UK usage
- Colloquial
- Slang
- Synonyms
Of or relating to the rough breathing in the Greek language.
Noun
The unmowed part of a golf course.
A rude fellow; a coarse bully; a rowdy.
- Examples
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More examples (1)
In Wellington Street my brother met a couple of sturdy roughs, who had just rushed out of Fleet Street with still wet newspapers and staring placards. "Dreadful catastrophe!" they bawled one to the other down Wellington Street. "Fighting at Weybridge!"
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.
The raw material from which faceted or cabochon gems are created.
A quick sketch, similar to a thumbnail but larger and more detailed, used for artistic brainstorming.
Boisterous weather.
Usage- Obsolete
- Examples
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In calms you fish; in roughs use songs and dances.
A piece inserted in a horseshoe to keep the animal from slipping.
Verb
To create in an approximate form.
- Examples
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Rough in the shape first, then polish the details.
More examples (1)
On the floor, one beside the other, stood two amphoræ of veined marble-like limestone; one a huge vase 2 feet high and more than 6 feet round, finished and perfect, with two splendid spiral bands; and the other a smaller vase, of the same type, but only just roughed out of the block.
To break the rules by being excessively violent.
Usage- Intransitive
- Examples
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More examples (1)
[…] roughing is not a part of the sport, and will not be tolerated. Referees will not permit unfair practices that may cause injury to a contestant, and are held strictly responsible for enforcing these rules.
To commit the offense of roughing, i.e. to punch another player.
To render rough; to roughen.
To break in (a horse, etc.), especially for military purposes.
- Examples
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To Rough Horses, a word in familiar use among the dragoons to signify the act of breaking in horses, so as to adapt them to military purposes.
To endure primitive conditions.
- Examples
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to rough it
“[…]Oh, but my husband is never so happy as when he is travelling. He likes roughing it. . . . My husband. . . . My husband. . . .”
More examples (1)
I was able to help Trudy set up camp and everything else, of course there are different ways to camp the usual comfortable way or roughed we of course roughed it and I did my best to keep warm.
To roughen a horse's shoes to keep the animal from slipping.
Usage- Transitive
Adverb
In a rough manner; rudely; roughly.
- Examples
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More examples (1)
I will warrant they prove such roaring boys as I knew when I served under Lumford and Goring, [...] —sleeping rough on the trenches, and dying stubbornly in their boats. Ah! those merry days are gone.
Adjective
having or caused by an irregular surface
- Synonyms
- Antonyms
- Examples
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trees with rough bark
rough ground
More examples (3)
rough skin
rough blankets
his unsmooth face
(of persons or behavior) lacking refinement or finesse
- Examples
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she was a diamond in the rough
rough manners
not quite exact or correct
- Synonyms
- Examples
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the approximate time was 10 o'clock
a rough guess
More examples (1)
a rough estimate
full of hardship or trials
- Synonyms
- Examples
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the rocky road to success
they were having a rough time
violently agitated and turbulent
- Synonyms
- Examples
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boisterous winds and waves
rough weather
More examples (1)
rough seas
unpleasantly harsh or grating in sound
- Examples
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a gravelly voice
ready and able to resort to force or violence
- Synonyms
- Examples
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they were rough and determined fighting men
of the margin of a leaf shape; having the edge cut or fringed or scalloped
- Antonyms
causing or characterized by jolts and irregular movements
- Antonyms
- Examples
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a rough ride
not shaped by cutting or trimming
- Synonyms
- Examples
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an uncut diamond
rough gemstones
not carefully or expertly made
- Synonyms
- Examples
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managed to make a crude splint
a crude cabin of logs with bark still on them
More examples (1)
rough carpentry
not perfected
- Examples
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a rough draft
a few rough sketches
unpleasantly stern
- Synonyms
- Examples
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wild and harsh country full of hot sand and cactus
the nomad life is rough and hazardous
unkind or cruel or uncivil
- Synonyms
- Examples
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had harsh words
a harsh and unlovable old tyrant
More examples (1)
a rough answer
Noun
the part of a golf course bordering the fairway where the grass is not cut short
Adverb
with roughness or violence (‘rough’ is an informal variant for ‘roughly’)
- Synonyms
- Examples
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he was pushed roughly aside
they treated him rough
with rough motion as over a rough surface
- Synonyms
- Examples
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ride rough
Verb
prepare in preliminary or sketchy form
- Broader terms