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Rough vs Stiff - What's the difference?

rough | stiff |

As adjectives the difference between rough and stiff

is that rough is having a texture that has much friction. Not smooth; uneven while stiff is of an object, rigid, hard to bend, inflexible.

As nouns the difference between rough and stiff

is that rough is the unmowed part of a golf course while stiff is an average person, usually male, of no particular distinction, skill, or education, often a working stiff or lucky stiff.

As verbs the difference between rough and stiff

is that rough is to create in an approximate form while stiff is to fail to pay that which one owes (implicitly or explicitly) to another, especially by departing hastily.

As an adverb rough

is in a rough manner; rudely; roughly.

rough

English

Alternative forms

* (colloquial) ruff

Adjective

(er)
  • Having a texture that has much friction. Not smooth; uneven.
  • * 1922 , (Virginia Woolf), (w, Jacob's Room) Chapter 1
    • The rock was one of those tremendously solid brown, or rather black, rocks which emerge from the sand like something primitive. Rough with crinkled limpet shells and sparsely strewn with locks of dry seaweed, a small boy has to stretch his legs far apart, and indeed to feel rather heroic, before he gets to the top.
  • Approximate; hasty or careless; not finished.
    • a rough''' estimate; a '''rough sketch of a building
  • Turbulent.
    • The sea was rough .
  • Difficult; trying.
    • Being a teenager nowadays can be rough .
  • Crude; unrefined
    • His manners are a bit rough , but he means well.
  • Violent; not careful or subtle
    • This box has been through some rough handling.
  • Loud and hoarse; offensive to the ear; harsh; grating.
    • a rough''' tone; a '''rough voice
    (Alexander Pope)
  • Not polished; uncut; said of a gem.
    • a rough diamond
  • Harsh-tasting.
    • rough wine

    Antonyms

    * smooth

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The unmowed part of a golf course.
  • A rude fellow; a coarse bully; a rowdy.
  • (cricket) A scuffed and roughened area of the pitch, where the bowler's feet fall, used as a target by spin bowlers because of its unpredictable bounce.
  • The raw material from which faceted or cabochon gems are created.
  • A quick sketch, similar to a thumbnail, but larger and more detailed. Meant for artistic brainstorming and a vital step in the design process.
  • (obsolete) Boisterous weather.
    • (Fletcher)

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To create in an approximate form.
    • Rough in the shape first, then polish the details.
  • To physically assault someone in retribution.
    • The gangsters roughed him up a little.
  • (ice hockey) To commit the offense of roughing, i.e. to punch another player.
  • To render rough; to roughen.
  • To break in (a horse, etc.), especially for military purposes.
    • (Crabb)

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • In a rough manner; rudely; roughly.
  • * Sir Walter Scott
    • Sleeping rough on the trenches, and dying stubbornly in their boats.

    Derived terms

    * bit of rough * diamond in the rough * rough and ready * roughhouse * rough in * roughness * rough out * rough up

    stiff

    English

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Of an object, rigid, hard to bend, inflexible.
  • *
  • *:“A tight little craft,” was Austin’s invariable comment on the matron;. ¶ Near her wandered her husband, orientally bland, invariably affable, and from time to time squinting sideways, as usual, in the ever-renewed expectation that he might catch a glimpse of his stiff , retroussé moustache.
  • (lb) Of policies and rules and their application and enforcement, inflexible.
  • Of a person, formal in behavior, unrelaxed.
  • (lb) Harsh, severe.
  • :
  • Of muscles, or parts of the body, painful, as a result of excessive, or unaccustomed exercise.
  • :
  • Potent.
  • :
  • Dead, deceased.
  • Of a penis, erect.

    • Quotations

    * (English Citations of "stiff")

    Derived terms

    * stiffy

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An average person, usually male, of no particular distinction, skill, or education, often a working stiff''''' or ''lucky '''stiff .
    • A Working Stiff' s Manifesto: A Memoir of Thirty Jobs I Quit, Nine That Fired Me, and Three I Can't Remember was published in 2003.
  • A person who is deceived, as a mark or pigeon in a swindle.
    • She convinced the stiff to go to her hotel room, where her henchman was waiting to rob him.
  • (slang) A cadaver, a dead person.
  • (US) A person who leaves (especially a restaurant) without paying the bill.
  • Any hard hand where it is possible to exceed 21 by drawing an additional card.

    • See also

    * bindlestiff * See also ,

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To fail to pay that which one owes (implicitly or explicitly) to another, especially by departing hastily.
    • Realizing he had forgotten his wallet, he stiffed the taxi driver when the cab stopped for a red light.
  • * 1946 , William Foote Whyte, Industry and Society , page 129
    • We asked one girl to explain how she felt when she was "stiffed ." She said, You think of all the work you've done and how you've tried to please [them…].
  • * 1992 , Stephen Birmingham, Shades of Fortune , page 451
    • You see, poor Nonie really was stiffed' by Adolph in his will. He really ' stiffed her , Rose, and I really wanted to right that wrong.
  • * 2007 , Mary Higgins Clark, I Heard That Song Before , page 154
    • Then he stiffed the waiter with a cheap tip.

    Anagrams

    *