roughage
/ˈɹʌfɪd͡ʒ/
"roughage" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“roughage” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Originally (archaic), garbage, rubbish, or waste; later (agriculture) the portions of a crop which are discarded, such as husks, stalks, etc.; also, agricultural waste such as weeds.
Corpus desk
Index EN-roughage · roughage · English
roughage · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "R" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | roughage |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɹʌfɪd͡ʒ/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “roughage” in English
Rare enough to double-check
roughage is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈɹʌfɪd͡ʒ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
No generated misspelling entries exist for roughage in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From rough (“not smooth; crude, unrefined”) + -age (suffix forming nouns with the sense of appurtenance or collection). The correct English form is roughage, spelled R-O-U-G-H-A-G-E.
Definition
- 1Originally (archaic), garbage, rubbish, or waste; later (agriculture) the portions of a crop which are discarded, such as husks, stalks, etc.; also, agricultural waste such as weeds.
- 2Coarse or rough plant material such as hay and silage used as animal fodder.
- 3Substances, generally of plant origin, consisting mostly of complex carbohydrates which are undigested when eaten by humans, and which therefore help the passage of food and waste through the alimentary tract; dietary fibre.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how roughage appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
I keep telling her not to eat all that roughage for brekky; prunes, bran, and baked beans.
Etymology
From rough (“not smooth; crude, unrefined”) + -age (suffix forming nouns with the sense of appurtenance or collection).
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.