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
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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
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Recent Examples of roughneck
David Fear, Rolling Stone, 22 May 2024
Trey Smoak’s roughneck monitor lizard was out of his sight for about 10 minutes Friday when the Crowley resident went to put up groceries.
—Harriet Ramos, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 11 Feb. 2024
Mark Peikert, IndieWire, 22 Jan. 2025
Landman, set in the oil fields of West Texas, is punctuated by extensive diatribes from Tommy about the oil industry’s importance, the tragic necessity of landmen and roughnecks, and the fallacy of placing society’s hope on renewable energy.
—Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 20 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for roughneck
Adjective
That sequence feels like it might have been made by one of those roughneck filmmakers in the early days of Hollywood, just hauling a lot of equipment and stuntmen out to the desert and risking their lives to make some crazed, truly dangerous action set piece.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 22 May 2024
Trey Smoak’s roughneck monitor lizard was out of his sight for about 10 minutes Friday when the Crowley resident went to put up groceries.
—Harriet Ramos, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 11 Feb. 2024
Noun
And the guys playing all of our roughnecks were the same.
—Mark Peikert, IndieWire, 22 Jan. 2025
Landman, set in the oil fields of West Texas, is punctuated by extensive diatribes from Tommy about the oil industry’s importance, the tragic necessity of landmen and roughnecks, and the fallacy of placing society’s hope on renewable energy.
—Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 20 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for roughneck
Recent Examples of Synonyms for roughneck
Adjective
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In that sense, the vulgar Vader situation creates a touchy dilemma for Epic Games and Disney, which likely invested substantially in this high-profile collaboration.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
16 May 2025
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Amid the attention, the new pontiff's eldest brother has drawn scrutiny for social media posts praising Trump and using inflammatory, vulgar rhetoric toward Democrats and transgender people.—
Mandy Taheri,
MSNBC Newsweek,
14 May 2025
Noun
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Their reckless, soft-on-crime policies emboldened criminals and thugs; wreaked havoc on the sanctity of our homes, businesses, and public spaces; instilled fear; and jeopardized public trust.—
Jenna deJong,
MSNBC Newsweek,
15 May 2025
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That theft is believed to have led to the brazen kidnapping in suburban Connecticut of the parents of one of Lam’s alleged co-conspirators by a crew of thugs from Florida who prosecutors say planned to hold the parents for ransom from their newly rich son.—
Dan Mangan,
CNBC,
15 May 2025
Adjective
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Related Articles Dear Abby: Is there a way to tell the crass shirttail relations that they’re not invited?—
Jeanne Phillips,
Mercury News,
10 May 2025
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Grand Theft Auto is famous for its crass, satirical sense of humor.—
Jordan Minor,
PC Magazine,
6 May 2025
Noun
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Locomotive, which is currently in Cannes with pics such as gangster comedy Café 404 and Richard Strauss’ Deadline, has also secured deals for In the Fire of War with unnamed buyers in the likes of Poland and Germany.—
Jesse Whittock,
Deadline,
14 May 2025
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Vogue: Both are genre shows, which is sort of interesting for you: a Western and a gangster series...—
Taylor Antrim,
Vogue,
12 May 2025
Adjective
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Hintz, meanwhile, got a rude welcome back early in Game 4 when Evan Bouchard slashed him right in the same area that Darnell Nurse injured him in Game 2.—
Pierre LeBrun,
New York Times,
27 May 2025
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And in the case of fully autonomous EVs, it might be considered rude to expect human passengers to get out and cable a robotaxi to a supercharger for a quick top up on the way to the airport.—
Paul Ridden
May 23,
New Atlas,
23 May 2025
Noun
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Or even those Californians, such as many in San Francisco and Los Angeles, who are just fed up with the perception that California is soft on criminals.—
Anita Chabria,
Los Angeles Times,
31 May 2025
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The Forgotten Gender Nonconformists of the Old West Livia Gershon April 27, 2018 In the Old West, cross-dressing was sometimes a disguise for criminals on the lam.—
The Editors,
JSTOR Daily,
30 May 2025
Adjective
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Such a fund holds derivatives tied to the prices of a basket of physical assets—crude oil, natural gas, precious metals, base metals, grains, livestock.—
William Baldwin,
Forbes.com,
24 May 2025
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Subscribe The core inflation is expected to ease in the coming months due to lower crude oil prices and the yen’s appreciation, said Masato Koike, economist at Sompo Institute Plus.—
Anniek Bao,
CNBC,
22 May 2025
Noun
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But the new villain is smarter than the IMF assumed, and the mission has disastrous results.—
Keith Langston,
People.com,
24 May 2025
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Of course, everyone has their own favorite Bond villain.—
EW.com,
EW.com,
24 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Roughneck.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/roughneck. Accessed 4 Jun. 2025.
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