rough and readyadj.
/ˌrʌf (ə)n(d) ˈrɛdi/, U.S. /ˌrəf ən ˈrɛdi/ 1. Of a thing, state, condition, etc.: good enough to serve the purpose, but not elaborately or carefully contrived, ordered, or finished.
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the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > imperfection > [adjective] > in specific way: defective or faulty > crude or undeveloped > rough or rude
gruff1681
rough and ready1730
rough1800
kachcha1834
hugger-mugger1840
1730 P. Shaw tr. G. E. Stahl Philos. Princ. Universal Chem. ii. iv. 297 A certain corrosive Liquor which dissolves all the Metals except Gold..they therefore use for a rough and ready examination of Gold.
1810 F. J. Jackson Let. May in Lady Jackson Bath Archives (1873) I. 120 A more rough and ready state of things..than we had before been accustomed to.
1826 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 19 396/2 Rustic wit, ignorant in its originality..and rough and ready at repartee, has never once waited for an encore.
1858 R. S. Surtees Ask Mamma xlv The hunting establishment was of the rough and ready order.
1893 R. S. Ball Story of Sun 222 The rough-and-ready compass so invaluable to the navigator.
1908 Craftsman Mar. 688/2 It has all the atmosphere of rough and ready comfort which naturally belongs to a den.
1925 Glasgow Herald 30 Mar. 10 A rough and ready shelter made of branches, planks, corrugated iron.
1966 H. Davies New London Spy (1967) 38 In the West End, there are a couple of well-established rough and ready pubs.
2005 Scootering June 123/1 The very nature of hand-beating such metal means that underneath it is a little rough and ready in places.
2. Of a person: unsophisticated, unrefined; not particular, prepared to take things as they come; working in a rough but prompt and effective manner.
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the world > action or operation > manner of action > carelessness > [adjective] > careless, not thorough > specifically of persons
running1588
schediastica1640
rough and ready1797
hashy1825
unscrutinizing1827
slapdash1832
the world > action or operation > advantage > expediency > expedience > [adjective] > pragmatic or practical
practical1605
untheoretic1809
rough and ready1849
no-nonsense1853
pragmatic1853
untranscendental1865
hard-boiled1884
pragmatical1896
1797 W. Cobbett Porcupine's Gaz. 19 Sept. in Porcupine's Wks. (1801) VII. 167 Out they scampered, rough and ready, and swore they would fight..to the last drop of their blood.
1821 Sporting Mag. Aug. 217/2 These travelling coves [sc. Gypsy boxers] are always rough and ready, and scarcely ever in want of training.
1849 E. E. Napier Excursions Southern Afr. I. 163 A sober, rough-and-ready ‘Totty’, who is able to..put his hand to any thing.
1894 F. M. Elliot Rom. Gossip iv. 94 A sort of leer, as of a rough-and-ready cynic.
1912 Munsey's Mag. June 370/1 The spectacle of this little man battling the combined hosts of money and power thrilled the rough-and-ready workers.
1961 R. Allen Ordeal by Fire xiii. 112 Most people took his knighthood as a deserved tribute to a rough-and-ready man who probably didn't want it.
1998 B. Kingsolver Poisonwood Bible (1999) v. 458 I watched these rough-and-ready foreigners go out to build thousands of miles of temporary roads.
3. Of manner, method, etc.: rough or crude, but effective; irregular in procedure.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > advantage > efficacy > [adjective] > roughly effective
rough and ready1860
the world > relative properties > order > disorder > irregularity > [adjective] > not formal
informalc1475
rough and ready1860
shirtsleeve1896
1860 R. W. Emerson Power in Conduct of Life (London ed.) 55 The rough and ready style which belongs to a people of sailors, foresters, farmers, and mechanics.
1868 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest II. x. 489 A rough and ready way of repaying themselves.
1897 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. II. 880 Instead of all this rough-and-ready turbulence, relays of attendants should be..organized.
1916 Survey (N.Y.) 4 Mar. 678/2 The methods employed were the rough-and-ready ones of common-sense observation.
1949 E. Goudge Gentian Hill ii. iii. 205 The first ship was a good one, a rough-and-ready justice prevailed upon it and brutality was not..the order of the day.
2005 C. Brackstone & L. Bushell Oi, Pikey! 20 Chas 'n' Dave's rough 'n' ready attitude has earned a well-deserved place in our hearts.
Compounds
With present participles, as rough-and-ready-looking, rough-and-ready seeming adjs.
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1845 New Sporting Mag. Dec. 363 There are five stalls of rough-and-ready looking ponies.
1920 W. Wood Winning of Canada III. vi. 76 The sailors..were a very rough-and-ready looking lot.
1996 J. Lanchester Debt to Pleasure (1997) 17 A rough-and-ready seeming fellow he is likely to be,..with..a gleam in his eye and a dagger in his boot.
Derivatives
ˌrough and ˈreadiness n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > advantage > efficacy > [noun] > rough effectiveness
rough and readiness1854
the world > action or operation > manner of action > carelessness > [noun] > carelessness or lack of thoroughness or exactness
superficiality1618
perfunctoriness1626
slovenliness1641
overliness1650
perfunction1656
cursoriness1727
slightness1817
slapdash1826
rough and readiness1854
superficialism1860
slapdasherya1871
sloppiness1884
slapdashness1929
1854 R. S. Surtees Handley Cross (new ed.) lxiv. 455 The Captain..determined to trounce his quondam friend in Westminster Hall, instead of availing himself of the honest rough-and-readiness of the county court.
1960 Guardian 30 Nov. 7/1 The rough-and-readiness of such Italian neo-realists as Rossellini.
2001 J. Newman Biblical Relig. & Family Values v. 99 A blend of the rough and readiness of an isolated rural pastoral society and a growing urban culture.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2011; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1730