Rough or ruff?
rough is an adjective meaning “Not smooth; uneven”; ruff is a noun meaning “A circular frill or ruffle on a garment, especially a starched, fluted frill at…”. Use rough as an adjective and ruff as a noun (rough is also a noun: “The unmowed part of a golf course”). They sound the same (/ɹʌf/). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) rough is about 28 times as common as ruff.
What is the difference between rough and ruff?
| rough | ruff | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | adjective, noun, verb, adverb | noun, verb, interjection |
| Meaning | Not smooth; uneven Approximate; hasty or careless; not finished The unmowed part of a golf course | A circular frill or ruffle on a garment, especially a starched, fluted frill at the neck in Elizabethan and Jacobean England (1560s–1620s) Anything formed with plaits or flutings like a frill To shape (fabric, etc.) into a ruff; to adorn (a garment, etc.) with a ruff |
| Example | rough hands | none recorded |
| Forms | rougher, roughest | ruffs |
| Pronunciation | /ɹʌf/ /ɹɐf/ /ɹʊf/ | /ɹʌf/ /ɹəf/ /ɹɐf/ |
| In writing | 31 times per million words | 1.1 times per million words |
Sources: rough and ruff in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of rough and ruff
rough
- 1
Not smooth; uneven
rough hands
- 2
The unmowed part of a golf course
- 3
To create in an approximate form
Rough in the shape first, then polish the details
- 4
In a rough manner; rudely; roughly
- 5
Approximate; hasty or careless; not finished
a rough copy
- 6
A rude fellow; a coarse bully; a rowdy
- 7
To break the rules by being excessively violent
[…] roughing is not a part of the sport, and will not be tolerated. Referees will not permit unfair practices that may cause injury to a contestant, and are held strictly…
- 8
Turbulent
rough sea
ruff
- 1
A circular frill or ruffle on a garment, especially a starched, fluted frill at the neck in Elizabethan and Jacobean England (1560s–1620s)
- 2
To shape (fabric, etc.) into a ruff; to adorn (a garment, etc.) with a ruff
- 3
Alternative spelling of ruffe: a small freshwater fish of the genus Gymnocephalus; specifically a Eurasian ruffe (Gymnocephalus cernua or Gymnocephalus cernuus) which has spiny fins; the pope
- 4
To play a trump card to a trick when unable to follow suit (that is, when unable to play a card of the same suit as the previous or leading card)
- 5
An instance of ruffing, or an opportunity to ruff, when unable to follow suit
- 6
A low, vibrating beat of a drum, quieter than a roll; a ruffle
- 7
To beat a ruff or ruffle, as on a drum
- 8
The bark of a dog; arf, woof
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, rough or ruff?
rough appears 31 times per million words; ruff 1.1 times per million words.
rough 31 times per million wordsruff 1.1 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search rough vs ruff?
“rough vs ruff” is searched about 390 times a month on Google and 20 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“ruff vs rough”, “rough or ruff”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.