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Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective uneven contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of uneven are harsh, rough, rugged, and scabrous. While all these words mean "not smooth or even," uneven implies a lack of uniformity in height, breadth, or quality.

an old house with uneven floors

When is harsh a more appropriate choice than uneven?

The synonyms harsh and uneven are sometimes interchangeable, but harsh implies a surface or texture distinctly unpleasant to the touch.

a harsh fabric that chafes the skin

In what contexts can rough take the place of uneven?

While in some cases nearly identical to uneven, rough implies points, bristles, ridges, or projections on the surface.

a rough wooden board

When could rugged be used to replace uneven?

The words rugged and uneven are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, rugged implies irregularity or roughness of land surface and connotes difficulty of travel.

a rugged landscape

When is it sensible to use scabrous instead of uneven?

While the synonyms scabrous and uneven are close in meaning, scabrous implies scaliness or prickliness of surface.

a scabrous leaf

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of uneven The team’s gold cuboid antenna measured 300 by 300 by 50 nanometers, but uneven currents would generate filaments that eventually short-circuited the pixel. Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 24 Oct. 2025 Though overall inflation appears to be stabilizing, the uneven pattern hints at what some analysts see as a late-cycle economy — where headline numbers look steady, but the foundations begin to creak. Moná Thomas, PEOPLE, 24 Oct. 2025 Toronto Star via Getty Images The Toronto Blue Jays face what CEO Mark Shapiro describes as a fundamentally uneven playing field. Karl Moore, Forbes.com, 24 Oct. 2025 Trump’s substantial and widespread tariffs are having an effect on overall inflation, but instead of a surge, the pass-through to consumers has been ongoing, gradual and uneven (for a multitude of reasons). Alicia Wallace, CNN Money, 24 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for uneven
Recent Examples of Synonyms for uneven
Adjective
  • The morning light casts jagged shadows across the pink stone, catching the saguaro spines and illuminating them like desert saints.
    Rowan Jacobsen, Harpers Magazine, 24 Oct. 2025
  • According to one tale, the devil escaped from hell and formed the jagged peaks in one day’s work.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 22 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • After a disastrous attempt at bedding Minde’s ex-girlfriend Edita (Vaidilė Juozaitytė), our flat-top sporting hero with a crooked smile meets Monika (Digna Kulionytė), an ambitious, studious beauty from the middle-class area of town.
    Courtney Howard, Variety, 30 Oct. 2025
  • Another crooked number against the Dodgers’ bullpen in the seventh inning cemented a 6-2 Game 4 victory that evened the World Series at two games apiece.
    Bill Plunkett, Oc Register, 29 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • This usually happens for a variety of reasons, including love biting, fear, anxiety, being a pet, frustration, rough play, social pressure, illness, or pain.
    Maria Azzurra Volpe, MSNBC Newsweek, 31 Oct. 2025
  • The Dolphins won six of eight after that rough start last season, and the team hopes that turnaround can be duplicated.
    Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 31 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Even within a single day, temporary weight shifts are common and are often due to varying levels of fluid retention.
    Lauren O'Connor, Health, 22 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • The winter solstice is the start of astronomical winter, when Earth's northern hemisphere is pointed the farthest away from the sun due to its tilted axis.
    Sarah Moore, Freep.com, 9 Oct. 2025
  • Holly, who did not share her last name, posed in the familiar tourist style—appearing to hold up the tilted tower.
    Soo Kim, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • Hoka Anacapa 2 Low GTX Trail Running Shoes While most hiking shoes have a more rugged, utilitarian look, these Hoka hikers lend more towards stylish.
    Jasmine Gomez, Travel + Leisure, 25 Oct. 2025
  • Hokkaido is known for its rugged natural beauty, cold winters and thriving agricultural and seafood industries.
    Gabe Whisnant, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • In deeply unequal ways, the new era of networked industrialization and electrification began to alleviate the conditions of scarcity that had rendered many communities so vulnerable to the climatic disruptions of the LIA.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 27 Oct. 2025
  • Yet many of their own colleagues are not getting paid — and likely won't be until the shutdown is over — creating an unequal playing field among federal employees that grows more slanted as the shutdown continues.
    Jenny Abamu, NPR, 24 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Following that injury, speculation landed on Springer suffering an oblique injury, though the team did not reveal specifics.
    Peter Chawaga, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Oct. 2025
  • The offense looked lost when Roman Anthony went down with an oblique injury in early September.
    Gabrielle Starr, Boston Herald, 26 Oct. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Uneven.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/uneven. Accessed 2 Nov. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on uneven

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