rocky road
4
5.7
- noun
- /ˈrɑːki roʊd/
- Informal
:
camino difícil
- After losing his job, John realized he was facing a rocky road ahead in his career.
- rocky road ahead
- life's rocky road
- a long and rocky road
But the idea that there's kind of in retrospect, a set of principles you could look at and maybe learn something from my sort of rocky road through there.
- But the idea that there's kind of in retrospect, a set of principles you could look at and maybe learn something from my sort of rocky road through there.
Examples
-
Doing free work is the rocky road to disaster.
Blog text (11) -
"The season is always a rocky road; it's always tough.
Blog text (14) -
2013 will be a rocky road indeed.
Blog text (26) -
It's been a rocky road with Pandit and pay.
Blog text (21) -
Twitter, as a developer platform, has traveled a rocky road, with lots of highs and lots of lows.
Blog text (4) -
House Rules Committee Chairman Bill Lee, a Democrat from Forest Park who opposed altering the flag, predicted that the governor's proposal faced a "long, rocky road."
Academic text (2008) -
Fishel charts the extremely rocky road which leads us from being someone's child to being someone's parent with humor, warmth, and sensitivity.
Blog text (18) -
The journey to establish their startup was a rocky road filled with setbacks and challenges.
-
They knew that raising a child with special needs would create a rocky road, but they were determined to provide the best support.
Synonyms
2
6.1
A time when someone has many problems and finds life difficult
1
7.0
A difficult time that is hard to get through
1
3.9
A difficult time that is hard to get through
A difficult problem that needs careful handling
Antonyms
How Difficult
∞
3.1
- Informal
4
5.7
382
2.9
5
4.8
148
3.6
- Informal
19
3.7
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a situation full of difficulties' is directly inferable from combining 'rocky' (characterized by problems or obstacles) with 'road' (a path or journey), yielding the metaphor of a difficult path. This is a common, cross-linguistic image and follows transparent nominal compounding, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily understand the MWE.
Etymology
Rocky road brings to mind a road covered with rocks and bumps, so moving along it is slow and difficult. That's why it means 'a time full of problems'.