rough

Alternative forms

• (colloquial) ruff

Etymology

From Middle English rough, rogh, roȝe, row, rou, ru, ruȝ, ruh, from Old English rūg, rūh, from Proto-Germanic *rūhwaz. Cognate with Scots ruch, rouch (“rough”), Saterland Frisian ruuch, rouch (“rough”), West Frisian rûch (“rough”), Low German ruuch (“rough”), Dutch ruig (“rough”), Modern German rau (“rough”), (old spelling) rauh (“rough”); Middle High German rûch (“rough”), (variants) rûhe, rûh, rouch.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɹʌf/

• Audio (US)

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• Audio (US)

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• Rhymes: -ʌf
• Homophone: ruff

Adjective

rough (comparative rougher, superlative roughest)

1. Having a texture that has much friction. Not smooth; uneven.
   • 1922, Virginia Woolf, Jacob's Room Chapter 1

     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.

2. Approximate; hasty or careless; not finished.

   a rough estimate; a rough sketch of a building; a rough plan

3. Turbulent.

   The sea was rough.

4. Difficult; trying.

   Being a teenager nowadays can be rough.

5. Crude; unrefined

   His manners are a bit rough, but he means well.

6. Violent; not careful or subtle

   This box has been through some rough handling.

7. Loud and hoarse; offensive to the ear; harsh; grating.

   a rough tone; a rough voice

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Alexander Pope to this entry?)

8. Not polished; uncut; said of a gem.

   a rough diamond

9. Harsh-tasting.

   rough wine

10. (chiefly Britain, colloquial, slang) Somewhat ill; sick
11. (chiefly Britain, colloquial, slang) Unwell due to alcohol; hungover

Noun

rough (plural roughs)

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.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Fletcher to this entry?)

Verb

rough (third-person singular simple present roughs, present participle roughing, simple past and past participle roughed)

1. To create in an approximate form.

   Rough in the shape first, then polish the details.

2. (ice hockey) To commit the offense of roughing, i.e. to punch another player.
3. To render rough; to roughen.
4. To break in (a horse, etc.), especially for military purposes.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Crabb to this entry?)

Adverb

rough (comparative more rough, superlative most rough)

1. In a rough manner; rudely; roughly.
   • Sir Walter Scott

     Sleeping rough on the trenches, and dying stubbornly in their boats.

Derived terms