rough

[rʌf]

/[rʌf]/ adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“rough” is uncommon German (frequency #56,484 among 2,984 “R” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#56,484
frequency rank, German
2,984
“R” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - uneben, rau, holprig, unwirtlich

Corpus desk

Index DE-rough · rough · German

rough · rank #56,484 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #56,484
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,984
  • PHOTO-FINISH Rotte

Nearest frequency peer: Rotte (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Langschwanz-Ränge nahe „rough“

Dünnes Band: Balken invertieren den Rang, seltenere Formen wirken kürzer

corpus weight

What this shows Langschwanz-Sicht: wo „rough“ gegen ähnlich seltene deutsche Ränge sitzt.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for rough
PropertyValue
Headwordrough
LanguageGerman
Part of speechAdjective
IPA[rʌf]
Letters5
Frequency rank#56,484
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „rough“ im Deutschen

Von links nach rechts: die wenigen Träger des Alltags, dann der lange Schwanz kaum gebrauchter Formen.roughfällt in diesen Seltenheitsbereich:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „Rotte“ (#56,483), „routiniert“ (#56,485), „rubber“ (#56,486). Unter 2,984 „R“-Lemmata liegt „rough“ bei #56,484. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

rough is uncommon German at frequency #56,484 among 2,984 “R” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed [rʌf]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for rough, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct German form is rough, spelled R-O-U-G-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    uneben, rau, holprig, unwirtlich
  2. 2
    hart, rau, sauer
  3. 3
    derb, rau, ungehobelt

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how rough appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The roads in Australia are very rough.

Synonyms

bumpycoarsevulgar

Antonyms

smooth

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "rough"?
"rough" is spelled R-O-U-G-H. The IPA pronunciation is [rʌf].
What does "rough" mean?
As an adjective, "rough" means: uneben, rau, holprig, unwirtlich
How do you pronounce "rough"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "rough" is [rʌf]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "rough" come from?
"rough" is a German word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "rough", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Rotte#56,483Rolli#56,479probt#56,438silla#56,533

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list