Complete classic literature • Five-line readings • Clear US narration
VELMORA ACADEMY
Academy of Archival Languages & Memory Studies
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rough

adjective US /rʌf/

having or caused by an irregular surface

How often you will meet it

Rank 1,416 of 71,295 words measured. It occurs 12,964 times across 175,160 chapters — 0.006% of every word in the library.

What it means

adjective

  1. having or caused by an irregular surface also: unsmooth trees with rough barkrough ground
  2. (of persons or behavior) lacking refinement or finesse she was a diamond in the roughrough manners
  3. not quite exact or correct also: approximate, approximative the approximate time was 10 o'clocka rough guess
  4. full of hardship or trials also: rocky the rocky road to successthey were having a rough time
  5. violently agitated and turbulent also: boisterous, fierce boisterous winds and wavesthe fierce thunders roar me their music
  6. unpleasantly harsh or grating in sound also: grating, gravelly, rasping, raspy, scratchy a gravelly voice

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1

rough in real books

Each sentence below was written by a published author and is taken from a different book in our library. Open one to read the passage it came from, with narration.

  • She was walking fast, staggering over the rough pavement.

    Other People's Money · Emile Gaboriau · Chapter 1

  • Such is the fate of simple bard, On life’s rough ocean luckless starr’d!

    Poems Every Child Should Know · Mary E. (Mary Elizabeth) [Editor] Burt · Chapter 1

  • Rough hands seized me and angry men bore me away, and I was thankful.

    The Red Record Tabulated Statistics · Ida B. Wells-Barnett · Chapter 1

  • A man sat in the shadow of a deep leather chair, his rough, unpolished boots stretched toward the flaming logs.

    The Abandoned Room · Wadsworth Camp · Chapter 1

  • Mrs. Wiggs's hands were rough and knotted, but love taught them to be gentle as she smoothed his hot head.

    Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch · Alice Caldwell Hegan Rice · Chapter 1

Nearby in the frequency table

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