rough

1 covered with or as if with hair <a face rough with a couple days' worth of beard> Synonyms bristly, brushy, cottony, fleecy, furred, furry, hirsute, hairy, shaggy, silky, unshorn, woolly (also wooly)Related Words bearded, bewhiskered, mustachioed (also moustachioed), whiskered; stubbled, stubbly; downy, fluffy, fuzzy, linty, nappyNear Antonyms beardless, shaved, shavenAntonyms bald, furless, glabrous, hairless, shorn, smooth

2 marked by bursts of destructive force or intense activity <rough waters that made sailing our sloop a little risky> Synonyms bang-bang, blood-and-guts, convulsive, cyclonic, explosive, ferocious, fierce, furious, hammer-and-tongs, hot, knock-down, drag-out (or knock-down-and-drag-out), paroxysmal, rabid, violent, stormy, tempestuous, tumultuous, turbulent, volcanicRelated Words barbarous, brutal, savage, vicious; antagonistic, hostile; aggressive, assertive, bellicose, belligerent, combative, contentious, gladiatorial, pugnacious, quarrelsome, truculent; combustible, volatile; agitated, frantic, frenzied, mad; cataclysmal (or cataclysmic), destructive, ruinousNear Antonyms calm, halcyon, pacific, serene, tranquil; nonbelligerent, unaggressiveAntonyms nonviolent, peaceable, peaceful

3 marked by wet and windy conditions <at least wear a raincoat if you're going out into that rough weather> Synonyms bleak, dirty, inclement, nasty, raw, foul, squally, stormy, tempestuous, turbulentRelated Words blowy, blustering, blustery, breezy, gusty, windblown, windswept; cloudy, overcast, sunless; rainy, snowy; foggy, hazy, misty, murky, soupyNear Antonyms rainless; balmy, calm, halcyon, peaceful, placid, pleasant, sereneAntonyms bright, clear, clement, cloudless, fair, sunny, sunshiny, unclouded

4 not having a level or smooth surface <a rough board can give you splinters> Synonyms broken, bumpy, coarse, irregular, jagged, lumpy, pebbly, ragged, uneven, roughened, rugged, scraggyRelated Words lopsided, unbalanced; inexact, unaligned; rutted, rutty, undulating, undulatory, wavy; pitted, pocked; knobbly, knobby, knurled, knurly, nubbly, nubby; burred, harsh, sandpapery, scraggly, scratchy; nonuniformNear Antonyms exact, uniform; aligned (also alined), regular, true; horizontal, tabular; plumb, straight, vertical; flushAntonyms even, flat, level, plane, smooth

5 requiring considerable physical or mental effort <a forensics expert who willingly takes on rough assignments> Synonyms arduous, Augean, backbreaking, challenging, demanding, difficult, effortful, exacting, formidable, grueling (or gruelling), heavy, hellacious, herculean, killer, laborious, moiling, murderous, pick-and-shovel, rigorous, hard, rugged, severe, stiff, strenuous, sweaty, tall, testing, toilsome, tough, uphillRelated Words abstract, abstruse, complex, complicated, elusive, hairy, insoluble, intricate, involved, knotty, opaque, problematic (also problematical), recondite, serious, spiny, stubborn, thorny, ticklish, tricky; bruising, burdensome, exhausting, labored, onerous, oppressive, stressful, taxing, tight, trying; annoying, bothersome, distressing, irksome, troublesome, vexatious; grievous, grim, strict, stringent; brutal, cruel, inhuman, painfulNear Antonyms achievable, clear, doable, elementary, manageable, uncomplicated; comforting, gentle, painless, relaxed, smooth, soothing; accessible, friendly, idiotproof, user-friendlyAntonyms cheap, easy, effortless, facile, light, mindless, simple, soft, undemanding

6 difficult to endure <I've had a rough time of it since I lost my job> Synonyms bitter, brutal, burdensome, cruel, excruciating, grievous, grim, hard, hardhanded, heavy, inhuman, murderous, onerous, oppressive, harsh, rugged, searing, severe, stiff, tough, tryingRelated Words austere, bleak, comfortless, discomforting, forbidding, inhospitable, spartan, uncomfortable; biting, inclement, intemperate, wild; rigorous, strict, stringent; agonizing, heartbreaking, heartrending, painful, wretched; crushing, grinding, overwhelming, wearing; insufferable, insupportable, intolerable, unbearable, unendurable; harrowing, tortuous; bad, disagreeable, hostile, unfriendly, unpleasantNear Antonyms comfortable, cozy, luxurious, snug; agreeable, friendly, genial, hospitable, pleasant; peaceful, relaxing, reposeful, restful; bearable, endurable, painless, tolerable; balmy, calm, clement, gentle, mild, moderate, temperateAntonyms easy, light, soft

7 harsh and threatening in manner or appearance <the rough faces of hardened criminals who had spent most of their lives behind bars> Synonyms austere, dour, fierce, flinty, forbidding, gruff, intimidating, lowering (also louring), grim, rugged, severe, stark, steely, stern, ungentleRelated Words bleak, cold, hostile, inhospitable, inimical, unfriendly, unsympathetic; adamant, bound, determined, firm, intent, purposeful, resolute, resolved, steadfast, unflinching; fixed, hard, hardened, hardheaded, immovable, implacable, inflexible, ironhanded, mulish, obdurate, obstinate, rigid, self-willed, set, stiff, stubborn, unbending, uncompromising, unrelenting, unyielding, willful (or wilful); immutable, unchangeable; black, cheerless, dark, gloomy, glum, joyless, melancholic, moody, morose, sulky, sullen, surly; brooding, grave, humorless, melancholy, serious, sober, sobersided, solemn, somber (or sombre), staid, unsmiling, weightyNear Antonyms bland, meek, mellow, soft, soothing; easy, quiet, tranquil; agreeable, bright, cheerful, inviting, pleasant, pleasing, sweet; glad, happy, lighthearted, merry, mirthful, sunny; featherbrained, flighty, frivolous, giddy, goofy, harebrained, light-headed, playful, scatterbrained, sillyAntonyms benign, benignant, gentle, mild, nonintimidating, tender

8 hastily or roughly constructed <made a rough camp as darkness fell over the forest> Synonyms artless, clumsy, crude, jerry-built, jerry-rigged, jury-rigged, rude, rough-and-ready, rough-and-tumble, rough-hewn, unrefinedRelated Words defective, faulty, flawed, imperfect; imprecise, inexact; inartistic, undressed, unfinished, unpolished, unworked; amateur, amateurish, inexpert, unprofessional, unskilled, unskillful; primitive, rudimentary; unshaped, unshapenNear Antonyms faultless, finished, flawless, meticulous, perfect, perfected, polished, well-done; adept, adroit, dexterous (also dextrous), expert, masterful, masterly, neat, practiced (also practised), skillful, workmanlike; artful, artistic, sophisticated; exact, preciseAntonyms refined