Join free

rugged

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

rugged¹

  • /ˈɹʌɡ.ɪd/

Rhymes with -ʌɡɪd

Where it comes from

From Middle English rugged, roggyd, ruggyd, derived from Old Norse rǫgg (“tuft, shagginess”), equivalent to rug (“rough, woollen material”) + -ed. Compare Old Swedish ruggoter (“wrinkled”), Swedish rugga (“to roughen”), Swedish ruggig (“shaggy”), Icelandic rögg (“shagginess”), Old Norse raggaðr (“tufted”), dialectal Danish raggad (“shaggy”).

adjective more rugged · most rugged

  1. Broken into sharp or irregular points; uneven; not smooth; rough. BY and by, after a rugged climb, we halted on the summit of a hill which commanded a far-reaching view.
  2. Not neat or regular; irregular, uneven. Commercially produced yarn, such as rayon, produces a cloth with a smoother, shinier look than hand-spun cotton, but the uneven, rugged look of hand-spun cotton can be quite appealing.
  3. Rough with bristly hair; shaggy. His hair was light and rather thin; his face strong and rugged from exposure, and his eyes narrow and observant.
  4. Strong, sturdy, well-built. Many women and men delude themselves into thinking that only the hardest and most rugged man is attractive and to many it may be the case.
  5. Rocky and bare of plantlife. As the train wound along the river valleys through western Pennsylvania the scenery grew more rugged and the painted houses of Lancaster County gave way to dirty clapboard dwellings and shack homes clinging to the mountainside.
  6. character Harsh; austere; hard
  7. Stormy; turbulent; tempestuous
  8. Harsh; grating; unpleasant sounding or looking
  9. Sour; surly; frowning; wrinkled "Ah!" sighed the unimaginative Granby, and his honest, rugged face grew clouded. Pepper puffed in silence for a moment or two; then spoke.
  10. Violent; rude; boisterous
  11. Vigorous; robust; hardy "Her gaze rested for a moment on the muscular neck, heavy corded, almost bull-like, bronzed by the sun, spilling over with rugged health and strength..."
  12. Designed to reliably operate in harsh usage environments and conditions. Psion, which supplies a range of rugged hand held computers, has lost nearly 2% after announcing a plunge into the red.

rugged²

  • /ɹʌɡd/

Rhymes with -ʌɡd

Where it comes from

From rug + -ed.

adjective

  1. not comparable Having a rug or rugs.
  2. not comparable Covered with a rug. Please put sharp objects on the rugged shelf.

verb

  1. participle, past simple past and past participle of rug

Talk about this word