Meanings
plural roughnesses
- countableuncountableThe property of being rough, coarseness.
The roughness of the road made me wonder if my car would fall apart.
- countableuncountableSomething that is rough; a rough spot.
A variety of suitable methods for surface inspection are available to detect topographical defects induced by surface roughnesses such as scratches, digs, inclusions and spatters.
2003, Klaus Bange, “Surfaces of Substrate Glasses”, in Thin Films on Glass, Springer Science & Business Media, page 101 - countableengineeringA measure of how rough something is, such as a surface
The surface roughness was low.
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna texture of a surface or edge that is not smooth but is irregular and uneven
nounthe quality of being harsh or rough or grating to the senses
nounthe formation of small pits in a surface as a consequence of corrosion
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englishroughnes /roughnesse
- Englishroughness
Inherited from Middle English roughnes /roughnesse. By surface analysis, rough + -ness. Compare Old English hrēohnes (“roughness”).
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek τραχύτης
- τραχύτης (trakhútēs)the property of being rough
Bulgarian грапавост, грапавина
- грапавост (grapavost)the property of being rough
- грапавина (grapavina)the property of being rough
- неравност (neravnost)the property of being rough
Catalan aspredat, aspresa
- aspredatthe property of being rough
- aspresathe property of being rough
- asprorthe property of being rough
Czech hrubost
- hrubostthe property of being rough
Dutch ruwheid
- ruwheidthe property of being rough
Esperanto maltrankvileco
- maltrankvilecothe property of being rough
German Rauheit, Grobheit
- Rauheitthe property of being rough
- Grobheitthe property of being rough
Hindi रूखापन
- रूखापन (rūkhāpan)the property of being rough
Latin asperitās
- asperitāsthe property of being rough
Latvian raupjums, negludums
- raupjumsthe property of being rough
- negludumsthe property of being rough
- rupjumsthe property of being rough
- rupjībathe property of being rough
Polish chropowatość
- chropowatośćthe property of being rough
Romanian asprime, asperitate
- asprimethe property of being rough
- asperitatethe property of being rough
Russian шерохова́тость
- шерохова́тость (šeroxovátostʹ)the property of being rough
Spanish aspereza
- asperezathe property of being rough
Cite this entry
roughness. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/roughness
“roughness.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/roughness. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “roughness,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/roughness.
Source: roughness on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.