rough

Meanings

Adjective

• Not smooth; uneven.
• Approximate; hasty or careless; not finished.
• Turbulent.
• Difficult; trying.
• Crude; unrefined.
• Violent; not careful or subtle.
• Loud and hoarse; offensive to the ear; harsh; grating.
• Not polished; uncut; said of a gem.
• Harsh-tasting.
• Somewhat ill; sick.
• Unwell due to alcohol; hungover.

Noun

• The unmowed part of a golf course.
• A rude fellow; a coarse bully; a rowdy.
• 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.
• A piece inserted in a horseshoe to keep the animal from slipping.

Verb

• To create in an approximate form.
• 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.
• To endure primitive conditions.
• To roughen a horse's shoes to keep the animal from slipping.

Adverb

• In a rough manner; rudely; roughly.

Related

Opposite words

• smooth

Origin

• From Middle English rough, rogh, roȝe, row, rou, ru, ruȝ, ruh, from Old English rūg, rūh, from Proto-Germanic *rūhaz. Cognate with Scots ruch, rouch, Saterland Frisian ruuch, rouch, West Frisian rûch, Low German ruuch, Dutch ruig, German rau.