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
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
As Singer’s book documents, Siskel and Ebert’s frequent riffs about their show amount to a rough-and-ready touchstone—even a questionnaire—for critics of all stripes to ponder.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 17 Nov. 2023
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
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
As Singer’s book documents, Siskel and Ebert’s frequent riffs about their show amount to a rough-and-ready touchstone—even a questionnaire—for critics of all stripes to ponder.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 17 Nov. 2023
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
-
Isabel, sitting in a driving-range stall, is nearly hit with a ball when a clumsy golfer clangs it off a metal railing.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
4 Feb. 2026
-
The results are often enervating though sometimes clumsy.—
Eli Enis,
Pitchfork,
3 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
For much of 2025, their doldrums felt much worse than the typical rough patch that parties endure after bad election defeats.—
Mark Leibovich,
The Atlantic,
11 Feb. 2026
-
Unfortunately, peel-and-stick tiles will not hold up well on rough walls and floors or uneven surfaces.—
Cori Sears,
The Spruce,
11 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
To do so would be rude, politically perilous, insulting to our biggest trade partner and just plain weird.—
Gustavo Arellano,
Los Angeles Times,
6 Feb. 2026
-
The interactions would last 30 seconds, maybe, and no one was rude.—
Matt Gelb,
New York Times,
4 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
-
Initially, these are very primitive – buy coffee, take a photo of a receipt in a cafe.—
Daria Tarasova-Markina,
CNN Money,
11 Feb. 2026
-
Later on, as some of the brightest extended objects visible with even the most primitive of telescopes, planetary nebulae are numerous and prominent in the catalogues of astronomers, with the first ones spotted way back in the 1700s.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
11 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
First signs of rudimentary Valentine notes began appearing much later, in the 1500s, according to Britannica.—
Kate Perez,
USA Today,
11 Feb. 2026
-
The first is risk detection, which can be solved with more rudimentary machine learning.—
Leo Schwartz,
Fortune,
10 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Thus, as a vision of our transportation system in 2050, this plan is flawed due to placing too much emphasis on freeway expansion and insufficient resources on public transit.—
Chris Roberts,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
6 Feb. 2026
-
Then their postseason schedule road was made easier by facing three flawed offensive units.—
Hank Gola,
New York Daily News,
6 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Both were imperfect solutions to an unavoidable problem.—
Paul Taylor,
New York Times,
7 Feb. 2026
-
Financial institutions extend credit to borrowers with limited or imperfect credit histories precisely because higher rates help offset the risk of default.—
Julio Fuentes,
The Orlando Sentinel,
7 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Rough-and-ready.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rough-and-ready. Accessed 13 Feb. 2026.
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