as in clumsy
hastily or roughly constructed
a rough-and-ready shack that the explorers threw together as winter approached
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Recent Examples of rough-and-ready
Black South African soccer developed its own clubs, its own superstars, and its own rough-and-ready style.
—
Ian Buruma, New Yorker, 23 Feb. 2026
Five seasons of Premier League football have seen Watkins progress from a rough-and-ready channel runner into a striker of prowess.
—Carl Anka, New York Times, 30 July 2025
The brand showed off its novel approach to creating a modern version of a vintage Land Rover Defender replete with switch panels for off-road performance and accessories and a rough-and-ready chassis design.
—Scotty Reiss, Forbes.com, 5 May 2025
Star chefs from Japan and abroad are shaking up the dining scene with inventive gastronomy, though delicious casual eats from rough-and-ready street stalls and mom-and-pop shops are still Osaka's calling card.
—Melinda Joe, Condé Nast Traveler, 15 Mar. 2025
Their rough-and-ready vérité shooting style creates an intimacy with the subject that deepens the emotional response to music that for many of us is ingrained in our DNA.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 25 Nov. 2024
James meets rough-and-ready cowboy Shea Brennan (Sam Elliott) upon arrival in Fort Worth and joins his wagon train heading West.
—Rendy Jones, EW.com, 9 Aug. 2024
But grit, rawness and dirty-realist poetry can be elusive elements to conjure, even in a production that cultivates those qualities with a rough-and-ready feel for the scrappy, sweaty storytelling of another era.
—David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
That means looks or labels that are forged in the sweat and heat of the city’s legendary nightlife and its edgy, rough-and-ready street style.
—Cathrin Schaer, WWD, 3 Sep. 2019
Ian Buruma, New Yorker, 23 Feb. 2026
Five seasons of Premier League football have seen Watkins progress from a rough-and-ready channel runner into a striker of prowess.
—Carl Anka, New York Times, 30 July 2025
The brand showed off its novel approach to creating a modern version of a vintage Land Rover Defender replete with switch panels for off-road performance and accessories and a rough-and-ready chassis design.
—Scotty Reiss, Forbes.com, 5 May 2025
Star chefs from Japan and abroad are shaking up the dining scene with inventive gastronomy, though delicious casual eats from rough-and-ready street stalls and mom-and-pop shops are still Osaka's calling card.
—Melinda Joe, Condé Nast Traveler, 15 Mar. 2025
Their rough-and-ready vérité shooting style creates an intimacy with the subject that deepens the emotional response to music that for many of us is ingrained in our DNA.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 25 Nov. 2024
James meets rough-and-ready cowboy Shea Brennan (Sam Elliott) upon arrival in Fort Worth and joins his wagon train heading West.
—Rendy Jones, EW.com, 9 Aug. 2024
But grit, rawness and dirty-realist poetry can be elusive elements to conjure, even in a production that cultivates those qualities with a rough-and-ready feel for the scrappy, sweaty storytelling of another era.
—David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
That means looks or labels that are forged in the sweat and heat of the city’s legendary nightlife and its edgy, rough-and-ready street style.
—Cathrin Schaer, WWD, 3 Sep. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rough-and-ready
Adjective
-
That makes the killers kind of human and fallible and clumsy, and these movies get a lot of mileage out of the slapstick shenanigans of their slasher chases.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
27 Feb. 2026
-
Then, however, Phillips was sent off four minutes into the second half for a clumsy lunge at Svante Ingelsson, and suddenly Wednesday believed.—
Richard Sutcliffe,
New York Times,
22 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Chong would give them a rough idea of his thoughts, which the artists would then use to develop dialogue and other details that expanded on his vision.—
Samantha Masunaga,
Los Angeles Times,
4 Mar. 2026
-
All that human saliva and mucus, absorbed and dried into a rough crust.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
4 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
His father calls me rude names and fights with my fiance.—
Abigail Van Buren,
Boston Herald,
28 Feb. 2026
-
By decreasing road manners, drivers increase the possibility of aggressive behavior becoming harmful rather than rude.—
Wyles Daniel,
USA TODAY,
27 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
The trappings of the Senate were another world from Mr. Abourezk’s rough-and-tumble childhood on the Rosebud Indian Reservation, where his Lebanese parents had immigrated and ran a general store.—
STEPHEN GROVES,
BostonGlobe.com,
25 Feb. 2023
-
The startup’s rough-and-tumble experiments are even more telling.—
Justine Calma,
The Verge,
24 Feb. 2023
Adjective
-
Overnight guests can also choose to use an RV site or camp in tent spots or in the primitive camping areas.—
Lana Ferguson,
Dallas Morning News,
26 Feb. 2026
-
Treatments were so primitive that medical intervention scarcely worked into the equation.—
Steven Levingston,
Vanity Fair,
23 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
The federal government also funded more than a hundred thousand programs across the country and, relying on rudimentary punch-card computers, kept track of everything going on everywhere and made that information available all over.—
Jill Lepore,
New Yorker,
2 Mar. 2026
-
The cognitive processes behind adaptation Far from being rudimentary, the study investigated the neural mechanics behind these visual representations, suggesting the presence of abstract thought—a crucial step in the evolution of human thinking.—
Maria Mocerino,
Interesting Engineering,
1 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Marek said Arrowhead's previous referendums relied on flawed assumptions.—
Alec Johnson,
jsonline.com,
27 Feb. 2026
-
The pulley-belt system is fundamentally flawed — there is no way to prevent the sliding, slipping and particle generation.—
Ed Sokalski,
Chicago Tribune,
27 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
For six decades, USAID functioned as Washington’s development backbone on the continent — imperfect, often bureaucratic, but central to US influence in health, education, and governance.—
Alexanderia Baker-Haidara,
semafor.com,
27 Feb. 2026
-
Charmaine Lynn Martin, a perfectly imperfect mother, died at age 59.—
Suzette Hackney,
USA Today,
27 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Rough-and-ready.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rough-and-ready. Accessed 7 Mar. 2026.
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