rough draft
noun
: a first version of something (such as a document) that needs a lot of editing and rewriting
I just completed a rough draft of my speech.
Examples of rough draft in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Barton will present the upcoming fiscal year's rough draft budget to the City Council on March 19.
—
Taylor Seely, The Arizona Republic, 29 Feb. 2024
Like several other pocket-size displays, this one could serve as a rough draft for bigger, deeper shows to come.
—Holland Cotter, New York Times, 19 Feb. 2024
Enlarge / Initial rough draft transcription of text deciphered on the scroll.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 5 Feb. 2024
This, in other words, was a very rough draft of an antibiotic drug.
—Popular Science, 1 Nov. 2023
It was taught as a tool to overcome writer’s block and to quickly knock out a rough draft.
—Ernesto Londoño David Guttenfelder, New York Times, 6 Sep. 2023
Final bids came in yesterday for the note—a yellow piece of paper on which the Apple co-founder wrote a rough draft of an ad for the 1976 Apple-1 computer.
—Michael Kan, PCMAG, 25 Aug. 2023
Between 1953 and 1962, Chevy Corvette C1 models underwent a number of changes that took the quintessential American vehicle from a rough draft to 5.4-liter V-8 toting sports car that could crank out up to 360 horses.
—Demetrius Simms, Robb Report, 4 July 2023
Researchers have constructed a rough draft of a human pangenome, a collection of DNA that represents the genetic information from 47 individuals.
—Evan Bush, NBC News, 10 May 2023
Taylor Seely, The Arizona Republic, 29 Feb. 2024
Like several other pocket-size displays, this one could serve as a rough draft for bigger, deeper shows to come.
—Holland Cotter, New York Times, 19 Feb. 2024
Enlarge / Initial rough draft transcription of text deciphered on the scroll.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 5 Feb. 2024
This, in other words, was a very rough draft of an antibiotic drug.
—Popular Science, 1 Nov. 2023
It was taught as a tool to overcome writer’s block and to quickly knock out a rough draft.
—Ernesto Londoño David Guttenfelder, New York Times, 6 Sep. 2023
Final bids came in yesterday for the note—a yellow piece of paper on which the Apple co-founder wrote a rough draft of an ad for the 1976 Apple-1 computer.
—Michael Kan, PCMAG, 25 Aug. 2023
Between 1953 and 1962, Chevy Corvette C1 models underwent a number of changes that took the quintessential American vehicle from a rough draft to 5.4-liter V-8 toting sports car that could crank out up to 360 horses.
—Demetrius Simms, Robb Report, 4 July 2023
Researchers have constructed a rough draft of a human pangenome, a collection of DNA that represents the genetic information from 47 individuals.
—Evan Bush, NBC News, 10 May 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'rough draft.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Rough draft.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rough%20draft. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.
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