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Rough

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rough¹

  • /ɹʌf/ US, UK
  • /ɹɐf/ Australia, New Zealand
  • /ɹʊf/ Northern England
  • /ɾʌf/ Scotland, Wales

Sounds like ruff · Rhymes with -ʌf

Where it comes from

From Middle English rough, roughe, roȝe, row, rou, ru, ruȝ, ruh, from Old English rūg, rūh, from Proto-Germanic *rūhaz.

Cognate with Scots ruch, rouch (“rough”), Saterland Frisian ruuch, rouch (“rough”), West Frisian rûch (“rough”), Low German ruuch (“rough”), Dutch ruig (“rough”), German rau(h) (“rough”), Danish ru (“uneven on the surface, "rough", "rugged"”).

adjective rougher · roughest · ruff

  1. Not smooth; uneven. rough hands
  2. Approximate; hasty or careless; not finished. a rough copy
  3. Turbulent. rough sea
  4. Difficult; trying. Being a teenager nowadays can be rough.
  5. Crude; unrefined. His manners are a bit rough, but he means well.
  6. Worn; shabby; weather-beaten. "You find us a bit rough," apologized the young man, with something of contempt towards his surroundings. "We weren't expecting visitors."
  7. Having socio-economic problems, hence possibly dangerous. the rough bit of town
  8. Violent; not careful or subtle. rough words
  9. Loud and hoarse; offensive to the ear; harsh; grating. a rough tone
  10. Not polished; uncut. a rough diamond
  11. Harsh-tasting. rough wine
  12. Ireland, UK, colloquial, slang Somewhat ill; sick; in poor condition.
  13. Ireland, UK, colloquial, slang Unwell due to alcohol; hungover.
  14. Of or relating to the rough breathing in the Greek language.

Similar: abrasive, asperous, coarse, gimped, harsh, irregular, jagged, jaggy, rough, rugged, rugose, salebrous

noun roughs · ruff

  1. The unmowed part of a golf course.
  2. A rude fellow; a coarse bully; a rowdy. 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!"
  3. 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, used for artistic brainstorming.
  6. obsolete Boisterous weather. In calms you fish; in roughs use songs and dances.
  7. A piece inserted in a horseshoe to keep the animal from slipping.

verb roughs · roughing · roughed · ruff

  1. To create in an approximate form. Rough in the shape first, then polish the details.
  2. intransitive To break the rules by being excessively violent. […] 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.
  3. 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. 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.
  6. To endure primitive conditions. to rough it
  7. transitive To roughen a horse's shoes to keep the animal from slipping.

adverb more rough · most rough · ruff

  1. In a rough manner; rudely; roughly. 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.

Rough²

Where it comes from

English and Scottish surname, variant of Ruff, itself of several origins:

* From the adjective rough

* Variant of Roof, Roff, Rolfe

* Scots pronunciation of Rock

* German variant of Ruf, itself shortened from Rudolf.

proper noun Roughs

  1. A surname.

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