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
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
Iteration is crucial in video-game design Typically a video-game project starts with the team throwing together a few rough-and-ready first drafts to make sure the concept works.
—IEEE Spectrum, 26 June 2023
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
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
Iteration is crucial in video-game design Typically a video-game project starts with the team throwing together a few rough-and-ready first drafts to make sure the concept works.
—IEEE Spectrum, 26 June 2023
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
-
Maggie is a snoop—and a clumsy one.—
Justin Chang,
New Yorker,
3 Oct. 2025
-
But the character’s state of servitude is largely hidden in clumsy blocking.—
Frank Rizzo,
Variety,
29 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
So the idea of him playing someone who’s a little rougher and grittier and just completely relentless appealed to him.—
Brian Davids,
HollywoodReporter,
3 Oct. 2025
-
This medium-sized toad has large reddish-brown eyes and a rough skin texture.—
Real-Time News team,
Miami Herald,
3 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
The El Segundo refinery, built in 1911, processes 276,000 barrels of crude oil daily, the company said on its website.—
Hanna Park,
CNN Money,
3 Oct. 2025
-
The El Segundo oil refinery is capable of refining 290,000 barrels of crude oil per day, Chevron says on its website, and its primary products are gasoline, jet and diesel.—
Sam Meredith,
CNBC,
3 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Your neighbors may even call you rude.—
Brandee Gruener,
Southern Living,
30 Sep. 2025
-
Crowd in New York has been bordered on rude; embarrassing!—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
28 Sep. 2025
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
-
The open North Rim camping at Fire Point and Swamp Ridge, is primitive and requires a backcountry permit.—
Evie Carrick,
Travel + Leisure,
1 Oct. 2025
-
The Chinese navy already makes port calls in Myanmar, but these are brief stays in facilities too primitive to provide naval advantage.—
Dan Swift,
Foreign Affairs,
30 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Ants display rudimentary counting abilities, can understand the concept of zero and make tools.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
25 Sep. 2025
-
The voice performers — including Thomas Lennon, Kyle Mooney, Melissa Villasenor, and Fortune Feimster — are superior to the rudimentary computer animation that probably works better on the small screen.—
Frank Scheck,
HollywoodReporter,
24 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
At 1-3 and trying to give some semblance of help to their top-notch defense and trying to stay alive in an AFC North that appears to be much more flawed than anyone thought a month ago, the Browns need a win.—
Zac Jackson,
New York Times,
1 Oct. 2025
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By replacing this flawed model with one that accurately accounts for SANS physics, the team demonstrated that porosity has a negligible effect on reactor physics or criticality safety.—
Aman Tripathi,
Interesting Engineering,
1 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Rough-and-ready.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rough-and-ready. Accessed 9 Oct. 2025.
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