as in vulgar
lacking in refinement or good taste
their roughneck antics were amusing only if you were as drunk as they were
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in thug
a violent, brutal person who is often a member of an organized gang
a group of roughnecks like to hang out at the roadhouse and harass people
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of roughneck
Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 10 June 2025
Where was Benn, their leader and roughneck captain, when Evan Bouchard gave Hintz a dirty slash on the top of his foot — in the exact same place Darnell Nurse injured him and cost him a game and a half — in Game 4?
—Mark Lazerus, New York Times, 30 May 2025
Jackie Strause, HollywoodReporter, 17 Nov. 2025
Before meeting us, Sam filmed a food series in Trieste that left him wanting more; Hazel takes Italian at an after-school program; and River, our yummy 5-year old roughneck, is aptly nicknamed Tony Soprano.
—Alyssa Shelasky, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for roughneck
Adjective
Solomon’s estranged roughneck father (Chris Bauer) hawks macho health supplements and scams Solomon into becoming one of his salesmen.
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 10 June 2025
Where was Benn, their leader and roughneck captain, when Evan Bouchard gave Hintz a dirty slash on the top of his foot — in the exact same place Darnell Nurse injured him and cost him a game and a half — in Game 4?
—Mark Lazerus, New York Times, 30 May 2025
Noun
But this is a look at the more dynamic version, like the roughnecks out in the patch and the offices in Dallas and Fort Worth.
—Jackie Strause, HollywoodReporter, 17 Nov. 2025
Before meeting us, Sam filmed a food series in Trieste that left him wanting more; Hazel takes Italian at an after-school program; and River, our yummy 5-year old roughneck, is aptly nicknamed Tony Soprano.
—Alyssa Shelasky, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for roughneck
Recent Examples of Synonyms for roughneck
Adjective
-
Lewd and vulgar language is banned.—
Matt Schooley,
CBS News,
14 Mar. 2026
-
Bauder admonished the crowd several times for being too noisy, and police removed a protester who yelled vulgar comments.—
Heather Hollingsworth,
Los Angeles Times,
13 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
The new Homeland Security person needs to unmask the thugs causing harm to families and innocent children.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
15 Mar. 2026
-
The centerpiece is, of course, the melee/dance-off between the ensemble in white tutus and the violent thugs, toe blade and all.—
Lé Baltar,
IndieWire,
14 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
The beloved slapstick comedy is 85 minutes of pure entertainment, full of increasingly chaotic adventures and shockingly crass jokes that still produce guffaws decades later.—
Rachel Simon,
Vulture,
6 Mar. 2026
-
In a not crass way, no matter what your vice of choice is, someone who enables that behavior, even just by being there, is a really relatable idea.—
Nicole Fell,
HollywoodReporter,
27 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
In the movie’s fuzzy metaphysics, Shelley wills herself into the consciousness of a character named Ida (also played by Buckley), a young woman angling for survival in 1930s Chicago — a colorful, dangerous world of bawdy lotharios and lethal gangsters.—
Peter Tonguette,
The Washington Examiner,
13 Mar. 2026
-
After all, the larger-than-life actor was mostly known for playing a gangster in Goodfellas (1990).—
Chris Snellgrove,
Entertainment Weekly,
12 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Kobabe conveys the quiet pain of being misgendered in ostensibly non-hostile environments and the fear of being perceived as inconvenient or rude.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
12 Mar. 2026
-
Even a bit rude and dismissive?—
Sharareh Drury,
Entertainment Weekly,
11 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
That way, even if your data circulates, criminals have a harder time breaking in.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
14 Mar. 2026
-
By demanding justice and dignity for the drug-war dead, were nuns, priests, pastors, and other sympathizers not protecting criminals?—
Sheila Coronel,
The Atlantic,
13 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
The movie does attempt to gesture at class and race as thematic underpinnings (the maids trapped in The Virgil are mostly non-white, while the villains are rich Caucasians), but like the story and action at large, these go pretty much nowhere, and feel like obligatory symbols.—
Siddhant Adlakha,
Variety,
18 Mar. 2026
-
Each ship name in the class has fed into a theme on board, with Wish tied to enchantment, Treasure to adventure and Destiny to heroes and villains.—
Richard Tribou,
The Orlando Sentinel,
18 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
That was a bit of a turnoff for this old traditionalist, who thinks politics has gotten too coarse and foul-mouthed.—
George Skelton,
Mercury News,
14 Mar. 2026
-
Using a pastry blender, cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.—
Philip Potempa,
Chicago Tribune,
13 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Roughneck.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/roughneck. Accessed 22 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
