rough

adjective, noun, verb, adverb adjective (rougher, roughest) not smooth 1 having a surface that is not even or regular: rough ground * The skin on her hands was hard and rough. * Trim rough edges with a sharp knife. OPPSMOOTH not exact 2 (written) not exact; not including all details SYNAPPROXIMATE: a rough calculation / estimate of the cost * I've got a rough idea of where I want to go. * There were about 20 people there, at a rough guess. * a rough draft of a speech * a rough drawing / sketch violent 3 not gentle or careful; violent: This watch is not designed for rough treatment. * They complained of rough handling by the guards. * rough kids * Don't try any rough stuff with me! 4 where there is a lot of violence or crime: the roughest neighbourhood in the city sea 5 having large and dangerous waves: It was too rough to sail that night. * We had a rough passage across to the island. weather 6 wild and with storms unpleasant 7 difficult and unpleasant SYNTOUGH: He's had a really rough time recently (= he's had a lot of problems). * We'll get someone in to do the rough work (= the hard physical work). not well 8 not feeling well: You look rough-are you OK? * I had a rough night (= I didn't sleep well). plain / basic 9 simply made and not finished in every detail; plain or basic: rough wooden tables * a rough road / track * (BrE) rough paper for making notes on harsh 10 harsh and unpleasant to taste, listen to, etc: a rough wine / voice roughness noun [U] seealsoROUGHLY IDIOMS rough edges small parts of sth or of a person's character that are not yet as good as they should be: The ballet still had some rough edges. * He had a few rough edges knocked off at school. a rough deal the fact of being treated unfairly moreatRIDEn.

in golf 1 (the rough) [sing.] the part of a GOLFCOURSE where the grass is long, making it more difficult to hit the ball: His second shot ended up in the rough. compareFAIRWAY drawing / design 2 [C] (technical) the first version of a drawing or design that has been done quickly and without much detail: Only the best of the roughs are shown to the editor. violent person 3 [C] (old-fashioned, informal) a violent person: a gang of roughs IDIOMS in rough (especially BrE) if you write or draw sth in rough, you make a first version of it, not worrying too much about mistakes or details: Write it out in rough first then copy it neatly into your notebook. take the rough with the smooth to accept the unpleasant or difficult things that happen in life as well as the good things moreatBIT