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View synonyms for roughneck

roughneck

[ ruhf-nek ]

noun

  1. a rough, coarse person; a tough.
  2. any laborer working on an oil-drilling rig. Compare roustabout ( def 4 ).


verb (used without object)

  1. to work as a roughneck.

roughneck

/ ˈrʌfˌnɛk /

noun

  1. a rough or violent person; thug
  2. a worker in an oil-drilling operation
“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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Word History and Origins

Origin of roughneck1

An Americanism dating back to 1830–40; rough + neck
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Example Sentences

McConaughey plays Ron Woodroof, a boozey roughneck who is given 30 days to live after being diagnosed with AIDS.

I wanted to kill the enemy and be a roughneck and cuss and spit tobacco, come home and do it again.

And some of these roughneck humourists will congratulate us on golf becoming one of the vital, red-blooded sports!

"You know, Miss Shaw, this isn't just the roughneck's scorn for the egghead," Travis said.

Will you try and see if you can't think of me as something more than just a dollar-chasing roughneck?

He could almost hear passersby say "goody-good" and "roughneck."

I copped it on the high seas—flotsam and jetsam,' says the 'roughneck.'

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