Roughneck

Quick meaning: Roughneck is a noun meaning (colloquial, chiefly US) A labourer on an oil rig or in the oilpatch, either skilled or semiskilled.

Meaning

(colloquial, chiefly US) A labourer on an oil rig or in the oilpatch, either skilled or semiskilled.

More Meanings

1. (colloquial, chiefly US, dated) A dirty or low-paid worker, a labourer; an ironworker in an ironworks or a steelworker in a steelworks.
2. (colloquial, chiefly US) Someone with rough manners; a rowdy or uncouth person.
3. To work as a laborer on an oil rig.

Example Sentences

As for the minerals, there has been a good deal of drilling along the big river; trucks and roughnecks no longer garner any notice.

LaTisha has long wanted to show Carole sheʼs not the roughneck she used to be, the roughneck who wasnʼt good enough to be her friend.

There was a time not long ago when this region appeared as some enduring mystification, its citizenry best known for roughnecking on the North Slope […]

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 in knee-deep water while making connections or pulling the drill string.

Word Forms

• roughnecks
• roughnecking
• roughnecked

Synonyms for roughneck

Depending on context, synonyms include roustabout, tough, bully, ruffian, rowdy, hooligan.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include ruffian, yobo, yobbo, bully, rowdy, hooligan.

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