roughen

R1O1U1G2H4E1N1
/ˈɹʌfən/

verb

To make rough.

“The wind began to roughen the surface of the sea.”

Opposite
smooth
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Meanings

verbroughen (third-person singular simple present roughens, present participle roughening, simple past and past participle roughened)

present singular third person roughens · participle present roughening · participle past roughened · past roughened

  1. transitiveTo make rough.

    The wind began to roughen the surface of the sea.

    1 more example

    They roughened the edges of the stone to give it a rustic look.

  2. intransitiveTo become rough.

Synonyms & antonyms

verbmake rough or rougher

Opposite
smooth
Broader
change surface

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

From rough + -en.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic يُخَشِّن, يَخْشُن
  • يُخَشِّن (yuḵaššin)to make rough
  • يَخْشُن (yaḵšun)to become rough
Bulgarian награпавявам, загрубявам
  • награпавявам (nagrapavjavam)to make rough
  • загрубявам (zagrubjavam)to become rough
Finnish karhentaa, karhentua
  • karhentaato make rough
  • karhentuato become rough
German aufrauen, anrauen
  • aufrauento make rough
  • anrauento make rough
  • rau machento make rough
  • rauento make rough
  • rau werdento become rough
Italian irruvidìre
  • irruvidìreto make rough
Latin irrūgidō
  • irrūgidōto make rough

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with roughen

toughen
All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

roughen. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/roughen

MLA

“roughen.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/roughen. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “roughen,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/roughen.

Source: roughen on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.