having a coarse or uneven surface, as from projections, irregularities, or breaks; not smooth

rough, red hands; a rough road.

shaggy or coarse

a dog with a rough coat.

(of an uninhabited region or large land area) steep or uneven and covered with high grass, brush, trees, stones, etc.

to hunt over rough country.

acting with or characterized by violence

Boxing is a rough sport.

characterized by unnecessary violence or infractions of the rules

It was a rough prize fight.

violently disturbed or agitated; turbulent, as water or the air

a rough sea.

having a violently irregular motion; uncomfortably or dangerously uneven

The plane had a rough flight in the storm.

stormy or tempestuous, as wind or weather.

sharp or harsh

a rough temper.

unmannerly or rude

his rough and churlish manner; They exchanged rough words.

disorderly or riotous

a rough mob.

difficult or unpleasant

to have a rough time of it.

harsh to the ear; grating or jarring, as sounds.

harsh to the taste; sharp or astringent

a rough wine.

coarse, as food.

lacking culture or refinement

a rough, countrified manner.

without refinements, luxuries, or ordinary comforts or conveniences

rough camping.

requiring exertion or strength rather than intelligence or skill

rough manual labor.

not elaborated, perfected, or corrected; unpolished, as language, verse, or style

a rough draft.

made or done without any attempt at exactness, completeness, or thoroughness; approximate or tentative

a rough guess.

crude, unwrought, nonprocessed, or unprepared

rough rice.

Phonetics . uttered with aspiration; having the sound of h; aspirated.

something that is rough, esp. rough ground.

Golf . any part of the course bordering the fairway on which the grass, weeds, etc., are not trimmed.

the unpleasant or difficult part of anything.

anything in its crude or preliminary form, as a drawing.

Chiefly British . a rowdy; ruffian.

in a rough manner; roughly.

to make rough; roughen.

to give a beating to, manhandle, or subject to physical violence (often fol. by up )

The mob roughed up the speaker.

to subject to some rough, preliminary process of working or preparation (often fol. by down, off, or out )

to rough off boards.

to sketch roughly or in outline (often fol. by in or out )

to rough out a diagram; to rough in the conversation of a novel.

Sports . to subject (a player on the opposing team) to unnecessary physical abuse, as in blocking or tackling

The team was penalized 15 yards for roughing the kicker.

to become rough, as a surface.

to behave roughly. ?

in the rough, in a rough, crude

or unfinished state

The country has an exciting potential, but civilization there is still in the rough.

rough it

to live without the customary comforts or conveniences; endure rugged conditions

We really roughed it on our fishing trip.

adverb

approximately , around , in the ball park , in the neighborhood , more or less , practically , pretty near , somewhere around , about , almost , nearly