rough

CEFRB1

/ɹʌf/

adjective

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    adjective

    Having an uneven surface that is not smooth.

  2. 02

    adjective

    Difficult, unpleasant, or not carefully done.

Examples

  • The sea got rough, so that we had to give up fishing.

  • We had a rough crossing on an old ferry.

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

adjective

Extra meanings

  1. Approximate; hasty or careless; not finished.

  2. Not smooth; uneven.

  3. Difficult; trying.

More examples

In context

  • rough surface

  • Being a teenager nowadays can be rough.

  • His manners are a bit rough, but he means well.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The surface of the sandpaper was very blank, so it quickly wore down the wood.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

adjective

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"”).