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Glite Dictionary
🏇 An outsider winner 😠 A bully 🛏️ A rough sleeper
roughie

roughie

1 9.8
A person expected to lose who wins against the odds
  • noun
  • /ˈrʌfi/
  • Jargon
translation icon : tapado
  • He always places a small bet on a roughie just in case there is an upset.

Examples

  • The roughie surprised everyone by winning the race.

  • Many bettors were thrilled when their chosen roughie crossed the finish line first.

  • The long-shot roughie surprised everyone by winning the final race of the day.

  • Did you see that roughie come in first?

  • He was seen as a roughie to win the race, but he surprised everyone by finishing first.

  • The last-minute entry was considered a roughie, yet it galloped ahead of the favorites.

  • Surprisingly, the smallest competitor turned out to be a roughie, clinching victory against all odds.

Synonyms

long shot
vsroughie
  • Informal
14 4.6

A person or thing unlikely to win in a competition

is the one who actually wins unexpectedly despite long betting odds
outsider
vsroughie
8 4.1

A competitor who is not expected to win a race or contest

is the competitor who surprisingly wins despite being written off

Antonyms

favorite
  • US
165 1.9

A person expected to win a competition

How Likely

favorite
  • US
165 1.9
contender
152 3.5
underdog
73 3.7
outsider
8 4.1
roughie
  • Jargon
1 9.8
long shot
  • Informal
14 4.6

Surface Forms

roughie singular
roughies plural

Morphology

roughie = rough (opaque) = rough + ie

Although the form is rough plus -ie, the betting sense 'unexpected winner or outsider' relies on specialized jargon where rough means 'outsider', so the meaning is not readily predictable.

Etymology

Roughie comes from rough 'unpolished' with the ending -ie, and a helpful way to remember it is to think of a 'long shot' or an unexpected winner. So in races or bets a roughie is an outsider who can surprise everyone.