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
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Here are several other Twins takeaways from a rough weekend in Denver, which ended on an encouraging note: Ryan shows confidence after first All-Star Game Making his first start since delivering a dominant inning in the All-Star Game on Tuesday, Ryan was outstanding in the series finale.—
Dan Hayes,
New York Times,
21 July 2025
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Devin Williams has settled down after a rough beginning of the year, and Luke Weaver remains superb despite some hiccups before the All-Star Break.—
Daniel R. Epstein,
Forbes.com,
21 July 2025
Noun
-
Chelsea's 3-0 FIFA Club World Cup victory over Paris Saint-Germain on Sunday, with President Donald Trump in attendance, was marred by a postgame brawl.—
Ryan Gaydos,
FOXNews.com,
14 July 2025
-
In 2004, the two sides engaged in an ugly brawl with just under six minutes to play.—
David Ubben,
New York Times,
11 July 2025
Adjective
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And Hank’s own clumsy attempts at hypermasculine child-rearing often come from his father, Cotton (Toby Huss).—
Daniel Dockery,
Vulture,
7 July 2025
-
Gone are are the days of clumsy imagery and texts and fake sign-in pages that can be detected in an instant.—
Zak Doffman,
Forbes.com,
3 July 2025
Noun
-
Navarro and Griffin have long had tension on the air, including past eye-rolling and clashes.—
EW.com,
EW.com,
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
-
Most commenters support the original poster, writing that the aunt and uncle are the rude people in this situation.—
Sabrina Weiss,
People.com,
10 July 2025
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Stand up to anyone who bullies you, and call people out who are rude or behaving badly.—
Bryan Robinson,
Forbes.com,
9 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
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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 30 Jul. 2025.
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