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Glite Dictionary
rough time of it

rough time of it

2 6.5
A period when someone has many problems
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : tiempo difícil
  • She isn't one to complain much or seek out medical help, so when she mentioned calling her doctor, I knew she was seriously having a rough time of it.

Sassy had had a rough time of it at the start.

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Examples

  • I know John was having a rough time of it after losing his job.

  • I've had a rough time of it, but I still believe in romance.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • The poor kid probably had had a rough time of it.

    Detour (1945)

  • But I understand she had a rough time of it.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • Sassy had had a rough time of it at the start.

    Gregory B. Sadler - That Philosophy Guy

  • Yeah, well, she's had a rough time of it already, without this.

    High Fidelity (2000)

  • She's having a rough time of it.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • She was having a rough time of it.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • She's had a rough time of it lately.

    The Leather Boys (1964)

  • The odd thing was, as I discovered later, that the battalion he was with had had a very rough time of it since his arrival, a sudden crop of casualties, of a kind one doesn't expect from experienced soldiers.

    Fiction book (2000)

Synonyms

to have a hard time
vsrough time of it
241 3.7

Find something difficult to do

implies broader hardship over time rather than a single struggle
to rough it
vsrough time of it
  • Informal
15 7.5

To live without usual comforts for a short time

refers to experiencing hardship over time rather than simply lacking comforts
to go through hell
vsrough time of it
15 7.0

To have a very hard and painful time in life

means experiencing hardship over time but usually less extreme or traumatic
to hit a rough patch
vsrough time of it
5 4.8

To go through a short time with problems after a good time

refers more generally to ongoing hardship rather than a brief setback
bad time of it
vsrough time of it
1 6.1

A time when someone has trouble

is used for sustained or severe hardship rather than mild discomfort
to do it tough
vsrough time of it
  • Australian
1 8.5

To live through hard times and keep going

focuses on undergoing hardship over time without stressing endurance quality
poor time of it
vsrough time of it
  • UK
7.5

A period when someone has many problems and feels unhappy

stresses ongoing hardship over a period rather than a single unpleasant event
thin time of it
vsrough time of it
  • UK
9.2

A period when someone has many problems

is used generally for hardship across time rather than short challenges
to have a time of it
vsrough time of it
  • UK
8.2

Find it very difficult to do something

is about experiencing hardship over a period not only task specific trouble
to go through the wringer
vsrough time of it
  • Informal
7.6

To experience a very difficult and stressful time

describes hardship over time but with less testing or extreme stress

Antonyms

easy time of it
  • Informal
1 1.7

A situation that is not difficult and needs little effort

How Difficult

to suffer
∞ 2.0
struggle
466 3.2
rough time of it
  • Informal
2 6.5
to manage
∞ 3.2

Surface Forms

rough time of it singular
rough times of it plural

Morphology

rough + time + of + it

The meaning 'to experience difficulties over a period' is directly compositional from 'rough' (difficult) + 'time' (a period), with 'of it' functioning as a grammatical link to the experiencer rather than adding an idiomatic meaning. This pattern (describing a period as 'rough') is common and cross-linguistically transparent, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words should be able to infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Rough time of it makes you imagine your time as a road that is very rough, full of stones and bumps so moving along is hard. So, saying someone had a rough time of it means they had 'difficulties' or 'hardship' over a period of time.