roughy
roughy Lexical Profile
roughy Game Scores & Validity
• noun
Any of several deep-sea marine fishes of the family Trachichthyidae, native to cold oceanic waters and characterized by their exceptionally rough scales and large heads.
"The restaurant's special for the evening was pan-seared orange roughy served with a lemon butter caper sauce."
Australian A competitor, especially a racehorse, that is considered unlikely to win and has high betting odds.
"The seasoned punter decided to place a small wager on a roughy in the fifth race, hoping for a massive payout."
Word Nuance & Usage
Almost exclusively encountered in modern English as part of the culinary term 'orange roughy,' a market name created to replace the less appetizing biological common name 'slimehead.'
• Rhymes for roughy
Word Origin & Etymology
Derived from the adjective 'rough' combined with the diminutive or noun-forming suffix '-y', referring to the prominently rough scales of the fish.
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.