rocky relationship
3
4.2
- noun
- /ˈrɑːki rɪˈleɪʃənʃɪp/
:
relación problemática
- The two have a rocky relationship, mostly due to Elissa's bitterness about her parents' divorce.
- a pretty rocky relationship
- a sometimes rocky relationship
- a rocky relationship with your father
Examples
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Madalyn and Bill had a rocky relationship.
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The conflict points out the sometimes rocky relationship between those who live in the wildland-urban interface and those who manage the public's fire risk in that area.
Blog text (7) -
The signing of the Association Agreement was, in fact, the beginning of a rocky relationship.
Academic text (2005) -
On the show, we see that they have a rocky relationship, which seems to be common among young black couples with a child or children.
Blog text (26) -
Two of them, twins, my family has been somewhat estranged from because of their mother and her rocky relationship with my brother.
Blog text (7) -
And what was crazy is, through all my adulthood, we'd had a rocky relationship.
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Despite its status as a "mass organization," UNAG had a sometimes rocky relationship with the FSLN.
Academic text (1998) -
Despite his rocky relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Obama has been on the phone with him nearly every day since the crisis began.
Blog text (11) -
Despite the rocky relationship between the Obama administration and Netanyahu, bipartisan backing for Israel remains strong.
Academic text (2011) -
Madalyn and Bill had a rocky relationship filled with constant arguments.
Synonyms
1
8.2
Two people who have strong feelings, frequent fights, and sudden changes
Antonyms
How Unstable
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a relationship with frequent difficulties or instability' is directly derived from combining 'rocky' (characterized by problems or uncertainty) with 'relationship' — the adjective transparently modifies the noun to indicate troubled interactions. This is a common compositional metaphor found across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituent words will readily infer the phrase meaning.
Etymology
The phrase rocky relationship comes from the image of walking on a path full of rocks. If a path is rocky you may stumble and cannot move easily, so a relationship called 'rocky' means it has 'difficulties' and is 'unstable'.