A roughneck is a person whose occupation is hard manual labor. The term applies across a number of industries, but is most commonly associated with the workers on a drilling rig.

The meaning of ROUGHNECK is a rough or uncouth person. How to use roughneck in a sentence.

ROUGHNECK meaning: 1 : someone who behaves in a rough, rude, or aggressive way; 2 : someone who works on an oil rig or at an oil well

The ideal of the hard-working, tough roughneck has been adopted by several sports teams who use the phrase as part of their name or logo.

If you describe someone as a roughneck, you disapprove of them because you think they are not gentle or polite, and can be violent.

Definition of roughneck noun in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more.

Nov 21, 2025 · roughneck (plural roughnecks) This first ship had a small geophysical-type drilling rig mounted over the side of the ship with a steel grid runround for the roughnecks, who stood …

Learn about the term 'roughneck,' its backgrounds, implications, and usage in both colloquial and industrial contexts, particularly in the oil industry.

roughneck, n. meanings, etymology, pronunciation and more in the Oxford English Dictionary

A roughneck is a troublemaker who gets in a lot of fights and doesn’t have good manners. Roughnecks are also men who work at dangerous, grueling hard-labor jobs.