Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun An uncouth person.
  • noun A rowdy.
  • noun A member of the crew of an oil rig other than the driller.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun See the extract.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Any labourer on an oil rig
  • noun A rowdy or uncouth person
  • verb To work as a laborer on an oil rig

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a cruel and brutal fellow

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

rough +‎ neck

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word roughneck.

Examples

  • The name roughneck, which crews tend to embrace as a badge of honor, reflects the demanding and sometimes risky work that sustains them, and the cowboy mystique they bring from their hometowns in the South and West.

    theithacajournal.com - 2009

  • The name roughneck, which crews tend to embrace as a badge of honor, reflects the demanding and sometimes risky work that sustains them, and the cowboy mystique they bring from their hometowns in the South and West.

    theithacajournal.com - 2009

  • The name roughneck, which crews tend to embrace as a badge of honor, reflects the demanding and sometimes risky work that sustains them, and the cowboy mystique they bring from their hometowns in the South and West.

    theithacajournal.com - 2009

  • The name roughneck, which crews tend to embrace as a badge of honor, reflects the demanding and sometimes risky work that sustains them, and the cowboy mystique they bring from their hometowns in the South and West.

    theithacajournal.com - 2009

  • In the first three or four he was pretty crude; he was even defined as a roughneck somewhere.

    Eco chamber: Is your favorite crime series a closed text? Peter Rozovsky 2010

  • Mr. Cornett has already taken a demotion from a driller to a "roughneck" oilfield slang for a floorman at a much lower salary to maintain a steady paycheck.

    Drilling Rules Shake-Up Puts New Regulator in Spotlight 2010

  • An experienced "roughneck," the nickname for rig workers, can make $100,000 a year, and top white-collar engineers can make as much as $500,000 a year, industry analysts and officials said.

    Offshore Rig Workers Call the Shots 2008

  • Mallick ridicules the entire Palin family calling husband Todd a "roughneck," son Track "terrified," and pregnant teenage daughter Bristol a "pramface," whatever that means.

    Heather Mallick, CBC Columnist, Latest Palin Basher 2008

  • And, of course, the only person who can save us is a burly oil driller played by Bruce Willis and his team of fellow "roughneck" drillers including the ever-annoying Ben Affleck.

    FILMS: "Armageddon"... Not Quite Bust'in Up The Planet... MaksimSmelchak 2007

  • He was correct in every detail and he thought complacently that he could not but contrast favourably with the appearance of that "roughneck" from

    The Dude Wrangler Caroline Lockhart 1916

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • 'The rain had slackened to a drizzle. In the lights of headlamps the roughnecks were busy tearing canvas from the trucks. Stan threw his slicker over his shoulders, went around to open the rear doors of the truck. He crawled in and gently shook Pete by the ankle. "Pete, wake up. We're here. We've got to put up."'

    - Nightmare Alley, William Lindsay Gresham

    July 1, 2012