▪ I. rugged, a.1 (and adv.)
(ˈrʌgɪd)
Also 5–6 rogged, roggyd, 7 rugg'd, 7–8 ruggid.
[prob. of Scand. origin: cf. the forms cited under rug n.2, and Sw. rugga to roughen, put a nap on, ruggig rough, shaggy. The precise relationship to ragged is not quite clear, but the stem is no doubt ultimately the same.]
† 1. a. Rough with hair; hirsute, shaggy; also of horses, rough-coated. Obs. Cf. ragged a.1 1.
| c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 1501 (Kölbing), Clowes he hadde qued,..A rugged taile so a fende. c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 2025 (Ellesm. MS.), This woful Theban Palamon With flotery berd and rugged asshy heeres. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 439/1 Roggyd, or rowghe,..hispidus, hirsutus. 1447 O. Bokenham Seyntys (Roxb.) 46 It signifyeth that oure lord jhesu Supplanted the deuyl oure ruggyd enmy. 1530 Palsgr. 322/2 Rogged with heare, poillu. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. IV, 9 Experience teacheth, that of a rugged colte, commeth a good horse. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. vi. 27 The Lyon whelpes she saw how he did beare, And lull in rugged armes. 1605 Shakes. Macb. iii. iv. 100 Approach thou like the rugged Russian Beare. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 751 Parch'd is his Hide, and rugged are his Hairs. 1726 Leoni Alberti's Archit. I. 96/1 If horses see the fire, they are prodigiously frightened and will grow rugged. |
† b. Of cloth or garments: Hairy, coarse, rough.
| 1558 Richmond Wills (Surtees) 126, ij turfill hatts, ij ruggid hatts. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage ii. vii. (1614) 136 Prophetes..whose ordinarie habite seemes to be a rugged hairie garment. 1663 Butler Hud. i. i. 307 His Breeches were of rugged Woollen. 1687 M. Taubman London's Triumph 8 The rest of the Mariners in Indian stripes and ruggid Yarn Caps. 1826 Hood Irish Schoolm. xx, Like tears dried up with rugged huckaback. |
† c. Of leaves: Covered with hairs. Obs.
| 1676 Phil. Trans. II. 630 The leaves are rugg'd like to a Borage leaf. |
2. a. Having small rough projections; broken into irregular prominences; rough, uneven.
| 1548 Elyot, Scabratus, made rough or rugged, as it were a thyng that is scalde. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. ii. (1586) 104 The blacke hath the ruggedder bark. 1601 Holland Pliny II. 393 If the nailes be ragged and rugged, it is not amisse to apply [etc.]. 1642 H. More Song of Soul ii. ii. iii. 1 He much perplexed is..Where to make choice to enter his rugg'd saw. 1681 Grew Musæum i. vi. ii. 146 The Rugged-Oyster..is of a dull ash-colour. 1750 Gray Elegy 13 Beneath those rugged elms. a 1787 G. White Selborne iv, This rag is rugged and stubborn, and will not hew to a smooth face. 1816 Scott Old Mort. xliii, The little bare feet which caught..hold of the rugged side of the oak. 1839 Kemble Resid. in Georgia (1863) 18 The rice-fields, all clothed in their rugged stubble. |
| fig. 1859 Helps Friends in C. Ser. ii. II. iii. 66 Smooths everything that would otherwise be rugged in domestic life. |
b. Of ground: Broken, uneven; full of stones, rocks, abrupt rises or declivities, etc.
| 1656 Cowley Anacreontiques ix, The Wheel of Life no less will stay In a smooth then Rugged way. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 14 Hills that were so high and rugged..that our hands were as well employed as our feet. 1717 Berkeley Journ. Tour Italy Wks. 1871 IV. 543 The road very rugged with stones. 1769 Robertson Chas. V, x. III. 243 Clambering up the rugged track with infinite fatigue as well as danger. 1820 Keats Lamia i. 176 At the foot of those wild hills, The rugged founts of the Peræan rills. 1841 Elphinstone Hist. Ind. II. 181 The Bahmani kings..had suffered severe losses in that rugged and woody country. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 30 Our island home is rugged, and does not admit of cavalry. |
| fig. 1673 Humours Town A 3 b, Men generally arrive at Wisdom by such rugged steps of self-experience. 1780 Cowper Progr. Error 71 Is this the rugged path, the steep ascent, That virtue points to? |
3. a. Of features: Wrinkled, furrowed; irregular; strongly marked.
| 1596 Spenser F.Q. iv. Prol. 1 The rugged forhead, that with grave foresight Welds kingdomes causes and affaires of state. 1617 Middleton & Rowley Fair Quarrel iii. ii, You have a good face now, but 'twill grow rugged. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. iii. ii. vi. iii. (1651) 561 Her soft corall lips will be pale, her skin rugged. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 146 Like their Prince appears his gloomy Race: Grim, ghastly, rugged. 1782 F. Burney Cecilia x. viii, Tears running quick down his rugged cheeks. a 1817 Jane Austen Persuasion iii, His face the colour of mahogany, rough and rugged to the last degree, all lines and wrinkles. 1863 Geo. Eliot Romola ii. vii, There seemed the very opposite testimony in the rugged face. 1890 Conan Doyle White Company xxxv, A dry-wood fire had been lit,..the glare beating upon their rugged faces. |
b. Wrinkled with care or displeasure; frowning.
| 1605 Shakes. Macb. iii. ii. 27 Sleeke o're your rugged Lookes, Be bright and Iouiall. 1671 Milton P.R. ii. 164 Such object hath the power to soft'n and tame Severest temper, smooth the rugged'st brow. 1848 Dickens Dombey xv, His eyebrows..smoothed their rugged bristling aspect, and became serene. |
4. a. Of weather, etc.: Rough, stormy, tempestuous. Now rare.
| 1549 Coverdale, etc. Erasm. Par. Tim. Ded., There is none so rugged a wynter, but some profyte aryseth of the feldes. 1622 Malynes Anc. Law-Merch. 231 Serue them in hard and rugged weather, whereby they are hindred to be abroad. 1637 Milton Lycidas 93 He..question'd every gust of rugged wings That blows from off each beaked Promontory. 1773 Life N. Frowde 25 He was..of the most inviting Carriage that ever I observed upon the rugged Element he was employed in. 1850 W. Scoresby Cheever's Whalem. Adv. iv. (1858) 58 The Commodore Preble lost..seven whales by sinking after they were ‘turned up’, and three from alongside in rugged weather. 1874 C. M. Scammon Marine Mammals 311 A rough sea, accompanied with blowing weather, is termed by whalers ‘rugged weather’. |
b. Involving hardships or severe toil. Also colloq. in weakened sense: tough, difficult.
| 1730–46 Thomson Autumn 289 Then throw that shameful pittance from thy hand, But ill apply'd to such a rugged task. 1820 Keats Isabella xli, Thinking on rugged hours and fruitless toil. 1838 Emerson Wks. (Bohn) II. 203 So it is in rugged crises, in unweariable endurance..that the angel is shown. 1889 Jessopp Coming of Friars vi. 295 It must have been hard for the weak and sickly..to stand that rugged old Cambridge life. 1942 Yank 7 Oct. 7 ‘Rugged’ the Destroyers call the Tank Hunting Course. 1943 Newsweek 27 Sept. 23/1 The war here is still pretty rugged, as the boys say. 1946 News Chron. 30 Aug. 3/8 The first night was a bit rugged, in a way (George said). There being no bed, Mrs Cain made up the bedclothes on the concrete floor. 1953 Manch. Guardian 31 July 4/6 They thought it not too strenuous: it had not been easy but had been ‘rugged’. 1973 J. Pattinson Search Warrant v. 81 If things get really rugged I just put the bite on my old man. |
5. Rough to the ear; harsh; unpolished.
| 1590 Spenser F.Q. iii. ii. 3 But ah! my rymes too rude and rugged arre. 1642 Milton Apol. Smect. Wks. 1851 III. 309 Declaming in rugged and miscellaneous geare blown together by the foure winds. c 1645 ― Sonn. xi, Those rugged names to our like mouths grow sleek. 1697 Dryden Ded. æneis Ess. (ed. Ker) II. 227 It seldom happens but a monosyllable line turns verse to prose; and even that prose is rugged and unharmonious. 1710 Philips Pastorals iv. 21 So sweet a Scene ill Suits my ruggid Lay. 1763 J. Brown Poetry & Mus. vi. 111 Eschylus is uneven, concise, abrupt, and rugged. 1841 Elphinstone Hist. Ind. I. 427 Most of the hymns composing the Védas are in a language so rugged as to prove [etc.]. |
6. Austere, harsh, severe, ungentle.
| 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lxv. §6 Take Cato, or if he be too harsh and rugged, choose some other of a softer metal. 1621 Fletcher Pilgrim i. i, Signior Alphonso, ye are too rugged to her, Believe, too full of harshness. 1682 Bunyan Holy War (1905) 279 My Lord Mayor said, That the answer did not look with a rugged face. 1773 Life N. Frowde 25, I began to be reconciled both to him and his looks, Which at first seem'd so rugged and unsociable. 1796 Burney Mem. Metastasio I. 21 The first breach of contract with the rugged advocate was in the beginning of 1721. 1817 Bonar Serm. II. xix. 423 We..dislike those rugged pastors who will make no allowance for the follies of the age. 1836 Thirlwall Greece II. 267 Characters like that of Aristides, even when there is nothing rugged and forbidding in their exterior, are seldom loved. |
7. Lacking in culture and refinement; rude, uncultivated; also, rough and hardy (cf. next).
| a 1625 Fletcher Wife for Month v. i, Though he be stubborn, And of a rugged nature, yet he is honest. 1665 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (1677) 301 They are very humane and noble in their natures; differing..very much from the Turks, who are rugged and barbarous. a 1680 Butler Rem. (1759) I. 96 Force is a rugged Way of making Love. 1732 Berkeley Alciphr. v. §11 The rugged manners of northern boors. 1748 Anson's Voy. ii. xiv. 284 Its inhabitants are a luxurious and effeminate race,..incapable..of giving any opposition to this rugged enemy. 1799 H. More Fem. Educ. (ed. 4) I. 149 It drives the gentle spirit to artifice, and the rugged to despair. 1826 Scott Woodst. ii, We have still about us some rugged foresters of the old Woodstock breed. 1849 M. Arnold World & Quietist 21 The rugged Labourer Caught not till then a sense..Of his omnipotence. |
| Comb. 1888 Fenn Dick o' the Fens 11 A tall rugged-looking man..came slouching up. |
8. Of a rough but strong or sturdy character.
| 1827 Carlyle Misc. (1857) I. 11 He has an intellect vehement, rugged, irresistible. 1852 Tennyson Ode Wellington 184 Whose life was work, whose language rife With rugged maxims hewn from life. 1853 Humphreys Coin Coll. Man. xxvi. 397 There is a fine rugged grandeur about the great copper pieces of this latter epoch. 1873 Symonds Grk. Poets v. 150 In his style Simonides has none of Pindar's rugged majesty. 1931 Amer. Speech VI. 185 Frequent adjectives of encomium in book reviews are..romantic, rugged, ruthless. 1966 Listener 10 Mar. 363/2 Nicholas Maw's..string quartet, a closely-knit, rugged work, product of a rich and fertile imagination. 1976 Gramophone Dec. 1057/2 Jochum's reading has a rugged truth combined with poetic sensibility. |
9. a. U.S. Strong, robust, vigorous; spec. in phr. rugged individualism. So rugged individualist, rugged individuality.
| 1848 Bartlett Dict. Amer. 280 Rugged, hardy; robust; healthy. 1858 Hawthorne Fr. & It. Note-bks. I. 271 Dirty little imps,..rugged and healthy enough, nevertheless, and sufficiently intelligent. 1872 O. W. Holmes Poet Breakf.-t. xii. 358 I'm getting along in life, and I ain't quite so rugged as I used to be. 1928 H. Hoover New Day 154 We were challenged with a peace-time choice between the American system of rugged individualism and a European philosophy of diametrically opposed doctrines—doctrines of paternalism and state socialism. 1937 [see deliquescent a. 3]. 1937 Education Nov. 186/1 Each of them..is a rugged individualist doing everything to satisfy his own personal desire. 1946 G. B. Shaw Geneva iii. 76 Your pose is that of the rugged individualist, the isolationist. 1962 [see same B. 2 d]. 1973 Guardian 18 June 4/4 The apolitical frame of mind which is summed up in the cliche ‘rugged individualism’. 1974 Encycl. Brit. Macropædia V. 403/1 Cypriots are a people of rugged individuality. |
b. orig. U.S. Of a manufactured object: strongly constructed, capable of withstanding rough usage. Also transf.
| 1921 Wireless World 29 Oct. 477/2 The whole design has been made robust, or, as our American friends would say, ‘rugged’. 1960 Practical Wireless XXXVI. 302/1 The mains transformer should be a rugged component capable of secure attachment to the chassis to survive the hazards of transport. 1975 J. Wyllie Butterfly Flood xxvii. 128 Everybody uses Land Rovers. Good cars, too. Rugged. 1978 Detroit Free Press 16 Apr. (Gardening Guide) 6 (Advt.), This 19.9 hp grounds maintenance tractor is specially designed for big jobs where you need rugged, dependable power. |
10. As adv. Ruggedly.
| 1661 J. Davies Civil Warres 344 Finding how rugged they moved as to his interest. 1678 Butler Hud. iii. i. 374 For those that doe his business best, In Hell are us'd the ruggedest. |
Hence ˈruggedish a., somewhat rugged.
| 1787 Linnæus' Families of Plants I. 78 Seed..ruggedish. |
▪ II. rugged, a.2
(rʌgd)
[f. rug n.2]
Provided or covered with a rug or rugs.
| 1888 Pall Mall G. 11 Jan. 5/1 The snugly-cushioned, hot⁓bottled, rugged, and scented votaries of fashion. 1899 Somerville & Ross Irish R.M. 275 Two horses, carefully rugged, were in it. |
▪ III. † rugged, v. Obs.—1
[f. rugged a.1]
trans. To make rugged.
| 1628 Feltham Resolves ii. xxix. 91 'Tis the World, that choaking vp the way, does rugged that which is naturally smoother. |