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View synonyms for rough-and-ready

rough-and-ready

[ ruhf-uhn-red-ee ]

adjective

  1. rough, rude, or crude, but good enough for the purpose:

    a rough-and-ready estimate of future expenses.

  2. exhibiting or showing rough vigor rather than refinement or delicacy:

    a cowboy—the rough-and-ready type.



rough-and-ready

adjective

  1. crude, unpolished, or hastily prepared, but sufficient for the purpose
  2. (of a person) without formality or refinement; rudely vigorous
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Derived Forms

  • ˈrough-and-ˈreadiness, noun
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Other Words From

  • rough-and-readi·ness noun
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Word History and Origins

Origin of rough-and-ready1

First recorded in 1800–10
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Idioms and Phrases

Unrefined or makeshift but available for use or action, as in The agenda is somewhat rough and ready, but it covers the main issues . [First half of 1800s]
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Example Sentences

Then came the rough-and-ready sentence of the camp-followers.

The girl was too refined to cope with the rough-and-ready young patronesses of The Bunhouse.

Still the rough-and-ready methods of the earlier centuries were certainly cheaper, and the result was much the same.

He was the head of the family of Nideck, a rough-and-ready warrior, I can tell you.

The problem is similar to the present one, except that it is rough-and-ready, compared to the present one.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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