as in rough
hastily or roughly constructed
the announcement of his candidacy was made from a rough-and-tumble stage put together just that morning
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in brawl
a rough and often noisy fight usually involving several people
a rough-and-tumble broke out among the fans in the stands
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of rough-and-tumble
Stephen Groves, BostonGlobe.com, 25 Feb. 2023
The startup’s rough-and-tumble experiments are even more telling.
—Justine Calma, The Verge, 24 Feb. 2023
Allison Carnegie, Foreign Affairs, 14 May 2025
The English actor is a perfect pairing with the kinetic Evans, as he's played rough-and-tumble brawlers in several bone-crunchers, including Bronson (2008), Warrior (2011), and The Revenant (2015), for which he was nominated for an Academy Award.
—Randall Colburn, EW.com, 26 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for rough-and-tumble
Adjective
The trappings of the Senate were another world from Mr. Abourezk’s rough-and-tumble childhood on the Rosebud Indian Reservation, where his Lebanese parents had immigrated and ran a general store.
—Stephen Groves, BostonGlobe.com, 25 Feb. 2023
The startup’s rough-and-tumble experiments are even more telling.
—Justine Calma, The Verge, 24 Feb. 2023
Noun
In this rough-and-tumble era, trade wars were frequent and destabilizing.
—Allison Carnegie, Foreign Affairs, 14 May 2025
The English actor is a perfect pairing with the kinetic Evans, as he's played rough-and-tumble brawlers in several bone-crunchers, including Bronson (2008), Warrior (2011), and The Revenant (2015), for which he was nominated for an Academy Award.
—Randall Colburn, EW.com, 26 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for rough-and-tumble
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rough-and-tumble
Adjective
-
Opening originally in the 1990s as Mean Streak, the old rough wooden coaster was given new life in 2018 with its transformation into arguably the greatest roller coaster of all time.—
Soo Kim,
MSNBC Newsweek,
2 Aug. 2025
-
The company had a rough second quarter, with automotive revenue falling 16% compared to a year ago — the second straight quarter of lower sales.—
Rob Nikolewski,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
2 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
Police in Cincinnati are investigating a viral video that shows what appears to be a violent brawl in the downtown section of the city.—
Greg Wehner,
FOXNews.com,
28 July 2025
-
The match was a violent and bloody brawl between two of the era's biggest stars.—
Andrew Ravens,
MSNBC Newsweek,
24 July 2025
Adjective
-
Dream plays are difficult to execute—whimsy is easily crushed by clumsy handling.—
Helen Shaw,
New Yorker,
25 July 2025
-
Despite a clumsy apology tour, Hogan was never able to completely shake his darkest moment.—
Alfred Konuwa,
Forbes.com,
24 July 2025
Noun
-
Which is why policy analysts are scratching their heads about what exactly lies behind the escalating border clashes between Thailand and Cambodia.—
Charlie Campbell,
Time,
25 July 2025
-
The Thai Health Ministry said 15 civilians and one soldier had been killed and 46 civilians and 15 soldiers wounded in the clashes since Thursday.—
Shane Croucher
John Feng,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 July 2025
Adjective
-
The essence of the review is evaluation, which of course doesn’t imply the crude simplicity of a thumbs-up or thumbs-down.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
24 July 2025
-
Oil prices have been soft this year, with West Texas Intermediate crude futures off about 9% per barrel, and Brent crude futures down 8%.—
Darla Mercado, CFP®,
CNBC,
23 July 2025
Adjective
-
Some posed for photos, others made rude gestures, and many simply stared.—
Jasmine Baehr,
FOXNews.com,
27 July 2025
-
The movie’s off-color humor wouldn’t fly today, but its rebellious spirit remains hilariously defiant — a refreshingly rude retort to the niceties of family films and their cringey feel-good messages.—
Tim Grierson,
Vulture,
25 July 2025
Adjective
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The brand showed off its novel approach to creating a modern version of a vintage Land Rover Defender replete with switch panels for off-road performance and accessories and a rough-and-ready chassis design.—
Scotty Reiss,
Forbes.com,
5 May 2025
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Their rough-and-ready vérité shooting style creates an intimacy with the subject that deepens the emotional response to music that for many of us is ingrained in our DNA.—
David Rooney,
The Hollywood Reporter,
25 Nov. 2024
Adjective
-
Houde said these mammoth animals are a primitive group of proboscideans ('elephantoids') from which modern elephants evolved.—
Joseph J. Kolb,
Fox News,
18 July 2017
-
Many are primitive and remote, and don’t have restrooms or water.—
OregonLive.com,
OregonLive.com,
12 July 2017
Cite this Entry
“Rough-and-tumble.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rough-and-tumble. Accessed 5 Aug. 2025.
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