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
Since then, the 6ft 4in (193cm) Yorkshireman, released by Huddersfield Town as a youngster for being too small, had evolved from a rough-and-ready forward to become one of the lower leagues’ most reliable target men, with a reputation for delivering big goals at big moments.
—
Richard Sutcliffe, New York Times, 8 Mar. 2026
James meets rough-and-ready cowboy Shea Brennan (Sam Elliott) upon arrival in Fort Worth and joins his wagon train heading West.
—Rendy Jones, Entertainment Weekly, 28 Feb. 2026
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
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
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
Richard Sutcliffe, New York Times, 8 Mar. 2026
James meets rough-and-ready cowboy Shea Brennan (Sam Elliott) upon arrival in Fort Worth and joins his wagon train heading West.
—Rendy Jones, Entertainment Weekly, 28 Feb. 2026
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
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
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rough-and-ready
Adjective
-
Even young Oklahoma City required a clumsy postseason audition.—
Troy Renck,
Denver Post,
5 Apr. 2026
-
The driver and his accomplice then mounted a clumsy getaway that resulted in their scooter crashing about three blocks from the scene, cops said.—
Thomas Tracy,
New York Daily News,
3 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Overcrowding, strong winds and rough seas caused the vessel to lose control and sink, the agencies said.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
15 Apr. 2026
-
Stars like James Dean and Marlon Brando wore Levi’s in the movies, and kids in B-movies for teens wore them, too, folding jeans into the image of rough, rebellious youth.—
Jack Armstrong,
USA Today,
15 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Pete Hegseth rebukes 'rude' reporter who interrupted Pentagon briefing on Iran.—
,
FOXNews.com,
9 Apr. 2026
-
Meanwhile, wearing baseball caps backward is considered a rude violation of etiquette, and going barefoot is not allowed.—
Samantha Stutsman,
PEOPLE,
9 Apr. 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
-
In 2018, Google employees staged a massive walkout to protest the company’s work on a primitive iteration of the project.—
Gideon Lewis-Kraus,
New Yorker,
15 Apr. 2026
-
The education center and two semi-primitive campgrounds feature vault toilets.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Several rudimentary suggestions for fake numbers follow.—
Natalie Oganesyan,
Deadline,
11 Apr. 2026
-
Navigating that tension makes a living cell a rudimentary agent — one that senses its own internal state and the environment, and then acts upon that information.—
Amanda Gefter,
Quanta Magazine,
10 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Although in the hours before splashdown, all eyes were on their spacecraft’s heat shield — which NASA previously said was flawed, according to The New York Times — NASA developed a modified path for the Artemis II mission in order to keep the crew safe during re-entry.—
Abigail Adams,
PEOPLE,
11 Apr. 2026
-
Late payments for major construction projects, expenditures listed in the wrong fiscal year and a flawed budgeting process are just some of the financial problems Groveland needs to fix, the Lake County city’s mayor said in an unusual presentation this week.—
James Wilkins,
The Orlando Sentinel,
11 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
And so, even an imperfect ceasefire is better than resuming full war.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
12 Apr. 2026
-
The results were often imperfect or flawed, which required manual correction and refinement.—
Cath Virginia,
The Verge,
11 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Rough-and-ready.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rough-and-ready. Accessed 17 Apr. 2026.
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