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rough-and-ready

rough-and-ready

1 6.6
Simple and not carefully made but good enough for the job
  • adjective
  • /ˌrʌf ən ˈrɛdi/
  • Informal
translation icon : rudimentario
  • Look, it's a bit rough and ready, but it should hold.

And and Spanish jails were a bit rough and ready, you know.

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Examples

  • This rough-and-ready solution will work until we find something better.

  • "We're a product of the rough-and-ready process of natural selection, and control of the expression of our genes has been left to other genes.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • Like I said, can't review those yet, but Toyota has shown images of them and they look pretty rough and ready to go.

  • So in a rough and ready way, what happens is that Putin has been ineffective, the boss of Russia for two decades.

  • This rough-and-ready rule can be tricked, of course.

    Academic text (2001)
  • So it'll be quite rough and ready, but I hope it'll be informative and and raise some questions for you.

  • A rough-and-ready example drawn from the sibling sample will illustrate what I mean.

    Academic text (1997)
  • Arriving on the Harvard scene as an outlander, moreover, provided a greater range for self-advertisement, this time as the rough-and-ready Westerner, tough-minded and no-nonsense, coarse-grained but the genuine article.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • Although it looks rough-and-ready, this chair is surprisingly comfortable.

  • His rough-and-ready approach to cooking produces delicious meals quickly.

Synonyms

crude
vsrough-and-ready
55 4.6

Made in a rough, simple way without skill

is effective for its purpose despite being unpolished
hacky
vsrough-and-ready
  • Informal
3 8.5

Made quickly in a rough way that may not last

is effective for its purpose despite being temporary or careless
rough-cut
vsrough-and-ready
  • Specialized
4.9

Shaped but not smoothed or fully finished

is effective for practical use despite its unfinished shaping

Antonyms

279 6.8

A machine or system with many advanced parts and careful design

1 5.4

More exact or detailed after careful improvement

How Polished

polished
26 2.1
workmanlike
3 6.1
functional
49 3.7
rough-and-ready
  • Informal
1 6.6
unfinished
132 2.7

Surface Forms

rough-and-ready positive

Morphology

rough-and-ready = rough + and + ready (transparent) = rough + and + ready

The meaning is directly inferable from the coordinated qualities 'rough' (crude) and 'ready' (prepared/usable), yielding 'crude but serviceable'.

Etymology

Rough-and-ready comes from two simple words: rough meaning 'not smooth' and ready meaning 'prepared'. A helpful way to remember it is to picture something made quickly that is not perfect but is ready to use, so rough-and-ready means simple and not carefully finished but effective.