bumpy
/ˈbʌmpi
/adjective (bumpier, bumpiest)
1(Of a surface) uneven, with many patches raised above the rest: the car jolted on the bumpy road...
- It was big, with pink frosting and sugary lettering arranged across its uneven, bumpy surface: ‘Happy Fifteenth Birthday Roberta’.
- Sure, there would be issues with narrow roads and a bumpy surface - but those are exactly the factors that make Monaco such a special test of drivers' skills.
- Conditions were difficult in Bangor as the match was being played on the Hibs'second pitch and the bumpy surface did nothing to enhance a game which lacked imagination from the start.
Synonyms
uneven, rough, irregular;
holed, potholed, holey, rutted, pitted, rutty;
lumpy, knobby, knobbly, gnarled;
stony, rocky
1.1(Of a journey or other movement) involving sudden jolts and jerks: the bumpy flight brought on a bout of airsickness figurative investors could be in for a bumpy ride...
- With a grunting groaning sound the old jeep started up again, and they began the bumpy journey south to civilisation, leaving clouds of red dust to settle behind.
- We just landed in an open field in those days and there seemed to be just one shed for an airport, and we were all feeling a bit airsick because of this bumpy journey up from Djibouti.
- The first part of the journey was quite bumpy, close to the lee shore the water was quite calm.
Synonyms
bouncy, rough, uncomfortable, choppy, jolting, jolty, lurching, jerky, jumpy, jarring, bone-shaking, bone-breaking, jouncy, jouncing, turbulent
inconsistent, variable, varying, changeable, irregular, fluctuating, intermittent, wavering, erratic, patchy;
rocky, unsettled, unstable, roller-coaster, stormy, tumultuous, turbulent, tempestuous, explosive, in turmoil, full of upheavals, full of conflict, full of ups and downs, chaotic
Derivatives
bumpily
- As we skipped bumpily along the Pacific in our 40-foot clipper, groups of dolphins raced around us, leaping out of the water in formation, emerging like the fingers of an Olympic swimmer.
- We talk in his room with its single bed, bumpily spread with a candlewick counterpane in a cosy shade of plum.
- It's not true, of course: the world is plenty vertical - hierarchical, bumpily uneven in the distribution of resources, power, and controlling secrets - and it's becoming more so.
bumpiness
/ noun ...- Because of the bumpiness of the terrain, the body tends to move around more to absorb the shocks from the surface you're riding over.
- Whatever the transition, the bumpiness is history.
- But a girl can handle the bumpiness of a breakup with style.