having a coarse or uneven surface, as from projections, irregularities, or breaks; not smooth: rough, red hands; a rough road.
shaggy or coarse: a dog with a rough coat.
(of an uninhabited region or large land area) steep or uneven and covered with high grass, brush, trees, stones, etc.: to hunt over rough country.
acting with or characterized by violence: Boxing is a rough sport.
characterized by unnecessary violence or infractions of the rules: It was a rough prize fight.
violently disturbed or agitated; turbulent, as water or the air: a rough sea.
having a violently irregular motion; uncomfortably or dangerously uneven: The plane had a rough flight in the storm.
stormy or tempestuous, as wind or weather.
sharp or harsh: a rough temper.
unmannerly or rude: his rough and churlish manner; They exchanged rough words.
disorderly or riotous: a rough mob.
difficult or unpleasant: to have a rough time of it.
harsh to the ear; grating or jarring, as sounds.
harsh to the taste; sharp or astringent: a rough wine.
coarse, as food.
lacking culture or refinement: a rough, countrified manner.
without refinements, luxuries, or ordinary comforts or conveniences: rough camping.
requiring exertion or strength rather than intelligence or skill: rough manual labor.
not elaborated, perfected, or corrected; unpolished, as language, verse, or style: a rough draft.
made or done without any attempt at exactness, completeness, or thoroughness; approximate or tentative: a rough guess.
crude, unwrought, nonprocessed, or unprepared: rough rice.
Phonetics. uttered with aspiration; having the sound of h; aspirated.
noun
something that is rough, especially rough ground.
Golf. any part of the course bordering the fairway on which the grass, weeds, etc., are not trimmed.
the unpleasant or difficult part of anything.
anything in its crude or preliminary form, as a drawing.
Chiefly British. a rowdy; ruffian.
adverb
in a rough manner; roughly.
verb (used with object),roughed,rough·ing.
to make rough; roughen.
to give a beating to, manhandle, or subject to physical violence (often followed by up): The mob roughed up the speaker.
to subject to some rough, preliminary process of working or preparation (often followed by down, off, or out): to rough off boards.
to sketch roughly or in outline (often followed by in or out): to rough out a diagram; to rough in the conversation of a novel.
Sports. to subject (a player on the opposing team) to unnecessary physical abuse, as in blocking or tackling: The team was penalized 15 yards for roughing the kicker.
verb (used without object),roughed,rough·ing.
to become rough, as a surface.
to behave roughly.
Idioms for rough
in the rough, in a rough, crude, or unfinished state: The country has an exciting potential, but civilization there is still in the rough.
rough it, to live without the customary comforts or conveniences; endure rugged conditions: We really roughed it on our fishing trip.
Origin of rough
before 1000; Middle English (adj. and noun); Old English rūh (adj.); cognate with Dutch ruig,German rauh