as in vulgar
lacking in refinement or good taste
their roughneck antics were amusing only if you were as drunk as they were
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in thug
a violent, brutal person who is often a member of an organized gang
a group of roughnecks like to hang out at the roadhouse and harass people
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of roughneck
Jason Bailey, New York Times, 19 Feb. 2025
That sequence feels like it might have been made by one of those roughneck filmmakers in the early days of Hollywood, just hauling a lot of equipment and stuntmen out to the desert and risking their lives to make some crazed, truly dangerous action set piece.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 22 May 2024
Brent Crane, The New Yorker, 2 Mar. 2025
Rico was played by squared jaw roughneck Casper Van Dien and the cast included Dina Meyer, Denise Richards, Neil Patrick Harris and Michael Ironside.
—Borys Kit, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
See All Example Sentences for roughneck
Adjective
Cage plays the title character, a working-class guy with a dark past who supervises a crew of roughneck woodsmen.
—Jason Bailey, New York Times, 19 Feb. 2025
That sequence feels like it might have been made by one of those roughneck filmmakers in the early days of Hollywood, just hauling a lot of equipment and stuntmen out to the desert and risking their lives to make some crazed, truly dangerous action set piece.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 22 May 2024
Noun
During my trip, Moore’s corps of consultants and roughnecks were drilling the fifth borehole of their experimental project.
—Brent Crane, The New Yorker, 2 Mar. 2025
Rico was played by squared jaw roughneck Casper Van Dien and the cast included Dina Meyer, Denise Richards, Neil Patrick Harris and Michael Ironside.
—Borys Kit, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
See All Example Sentences for roughneck
Recent Examples of Synonyms for roughneck
Adjective
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Her choice to respond by telling me to 'shut the f*** up' and to 'calm my p*****' was vulgar, dismissive and escalated the issue entirely.—
Lydia Patrick,
MSNBC Newsweek,
13 Aug. 2025
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As deadly wildfires raged across Southern California in January, a Los Angeles city official lamented to the city council and others how they were forced to listen to hateful, vulgar language from some members of the public.—
BrieAnna J. Frank,
USA Today,
13 Aug. 2025
Noun
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At least being a thug is more lucrative than being a poet.—
Joan MacDonald,
Forbes.com,
2 Aug. 2025
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According to reporting from the Clermont Sun, Fike tweeted ‘#thug the new n word’ in April 2015 and ‘Thug life = thug treatment = no pity from me’ in July 2019.—
James Wilkins,
The Orlando Sentinel,
29 July 2025
Adjective
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The idea that women should lose the right to vote is shaping up to be more than a crass punchline or a dystopian viewpoint, but one that Pete Hegseth, a member of the president’s cabinet, appears to agree with.—
Stephanie McNeal,
Glamour,
12 Aug. 2025
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To achieve this encyclopedic scope, Joyce opened every door between the divine thought of Thomas Aquinas and crass Dublin newspaper ads.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
5 Aug. 2025
Noun
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The book was about how his father chose conventional family values over the life of a gangster.—
Leonard Greene,
New York Daily News,
2 Aug. 2025
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That audio clip has been shared some 60,000 times on TikTok, often by Venezuelans ridiculing the notion that everybody from their country is a gangster.—
ProPublica,
ProPublica,
23 July 2025
Adjective
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Think scarf head coverings for women in Catholic churches, shoe removal for all to enter a mosque, yarmulkes required for men in synagogues, but also pay attention to the cultural norms away from houses of worship and behave accordingly to avoid being considered a rude American.—
Jenny Peters,
Oc Register,
4 Aug. 2025
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The Reddit community nearly unanimously branded the boyfriend as rude and tone-deaf.—
Andrea Margolis,
FOXNews.com,
3 Aug. 2025
Noun
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The Saturday Night Live alum, 31, and Beverly Hills Cop actor, 64, star in the action-comedy The Pickup as Travis and Russell, two security guards whose vehicle is hijacked by Zoe (Keke Palmer), a criminal on a mission to avenge her dad by robbing a casino.—
Rebecca Aizin,
People.com,
8 Aug. 2025
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Neighborhoods where residents get out and meet each other and know their law enforcement are safer and discourage criminals — that’s the thinking behind the National Night Out campaign.—
Heather McRea,
Oc Register,
7 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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As crude oil inventories begin to build around the world, oil prices should fall.—
Matt Randolph,
Forbes.com,
16 Aug. 2025
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The other measures the company is proposing include improvements to its fluidized catalytic-cracking units, which help turn crude oil into gasoline, and installing carbon monoxide analyzers to ensure equipment is running efficiently.—
Noelle Phillips,
Denver Post,
16 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Temuera Morrison plays a terrific villain as the murderous King Kahekili.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
16 Aug. 2025
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Year: 2009 Director: Tony Scott Runtime: 1h 44m A remake of the 1974 subway-hijack thriller is inferior in just about every way, particularly with its villain, played by a way-too-jacked-up John Travolta.—
Tim Grierson,
Vulture,
15 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Roughneck.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/roughneck. Accessed 20 Aug. 2025.
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