Thesaurus
rough
Synonyms and Antonyms of rough
- a face rough with a couple daysʼ worth of beard
bearded, bewhiskered, mustachioed (also moustachioed), whiskered
- rough waters that made sailing our sloop a little risky
- at least wear a raincoat if youʼre going out into that rough weather
- a rough board can give you splinters
- a forensics expert who willingly takes on rough assignments
arduous, Augean, backbreaking, challenging, demanding, difficult, effortful, exacting, formidable, grueling (or gruelling), hard, heavy, hellacious, herculean, killer, laborious, moiling, murderous, pick-and-shovel, rigorous, rugged, severe, stiff, strenuous, sweaty, tall, testing, toilsome, tough, uphill
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
cheap, easy, effortless, facile, light, mindless, simple, soft, undemanding
- Iʼve had a rough time of it since I lost my job
- the rough faces of hardened criminals who had spent most of their lives behind bars
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)
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, weighty
- made a rough camp as darkness fell over the forest
- he learned polite words to replace the rough language he had known growing up
coarse, common, crass, crude, gross, ill-bred, illiberal [archaic], incult, insensible, low, lowbred, lowbrow, raffish, rough-hewn, roughneck, rude, rugged, tasteless, uncouth, uncultivated, uncultured, unpolished, unrefined, vulgar
- a rough flight that left some passengers nauseated
- after a rough week on the high seas, we were happy to sail through the gulf's more tranquil waters
Synonym Discussion of rough
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- a rough wooden board
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- a harsh fabric that chafes the skin
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- an old house with uneven floors
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- a rugged landscape
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- a scabrous leaf
synonyms see in addition rude
Learn More about rough
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See words that rhyme with rough Dictionary: Definition of rough Medical Dictionary: Definition of rough Spanish Central: Translation of rough Nglish: Translation of rough for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of rough for Arabic speakers
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