1
2
3

Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective uneven contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of uneven are harsh, rough, rugged, and scabrous. While all these words mean "not smooth or even," uneven implies a lack of uniformity in height, breadth, or quality.

an old house with uneven floors

When is harsh a more appropriate choice than uneven?

The synonyms harsh and uneven are sometimes interchangeable, but harsh implies a surface or texture distinctly unpleasant to the touch.

a harsh fabric that chafes the skin

In what contexts can rough take the place of uneven?

While in some cases nearly identical to uneven, rough implies points, bristles, ridges, or projections on the surface.

a rough wooden board

When could rugged be used to replace uneven?

The words rugged and uneven are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, rugged implies irregularity or roughness of land surface and connotes difficulty of travel.

a rugged landscape

When is it sensible to use scabrous instead of uneven?

While the synonyms scabrous and uneven are close in meaning, scabrous implies scaliness or prickliness of surface.

a scabrous leaf

Examples Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of uneven While his presidency was uneven (inflation and the Iran hostage drama didn’t help), Carter was revealed as more than a fair peacemaker (and his diplomatic work was integral to resolving the hostage crisis). Brenda Looper, arkansasonline.com, 2 Jan. 2025 Massive stone walls are exhibited along the home’s castle-like façade, plus asymmetrical massing that gives it a pleasantly uneven shape and weight, visually. Demetrius Simms, Robb Report, 31 Dec. 2024 But changes to the original text result in a talky microcosm with uneven performance rhythms (John David Washington is boisterous, frantic, and out of sync). Armond White, National Review, 27 Dec. 2024 Economic Instability: The Fourth Turning signals economic disruption, with uneven income growth and widespread insecurity. Bob Haber, Forbes, 27 Dec. 2024 See all Example Sentences for uneven 
Recent Examples of Synonyms for uneven
Adjective
  • Much like the iconic caveman from Hanna-Barbera's The Flintstones, Hollins went barefoot and sported a blue necktie and a short-sleeve, leopard-print loincloth with a jagged hemline.
    Gil Macias, People.com, 12 Jan. 2025
  • Comments For over a century, the rugged beauty of the Dolomites — with its jagged peaks rising above lush meadows and hills — has attracted wellness travelers the world over.
    Dobrina Zhekova, Travel + Leisure, 8 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • And though a second, thick stucco layer with bits of cork was an insulation novelty imported from Italy, its properties meant that the walls could remain authentically crooked.
    Julie Lasky, New York Times, 10 Jan. 2025
  • What he’s actually done is fake his death to create a template for a new life by stealing $90 million from a client of his crooked law firm.
    Mike Fleming Jr, Deadline, 8 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • Blue Origin was counting down toward the launch of its first New Glenn heavy-lift rocket at 1:00 a.m. EST (0600 GMT) on Friday (Jan. 10), but rough weather in the Atlantic Ocean — where part of the rocket is expected to land — forced a two-day delay.
    Tariq Malik, Space.com, 9 Jan. 2025
  • This is a rough first cut of Biden's foreign policy legacy.
    Paul Du Quenoy, Newsweek, 9 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • The rest of the team can't stay healthy because of a rugged artificial turf home field.
    Dianna Russini, The Athletic, 15 Jan. 2025
  • These include the rugged Prombron Black Stallion CLV, which will be built on a General Motors platform, and the high-performance Prombron Iron Stallion, which is based on the Lamborghini Urus.
    Bryan Hood, Robb Report, 15 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • The racial wealth gap between Black and white households stems from unequal labor income, disparate housing equity and student loan debt, Alyasah Sewell, an associate professor of sociology at Emory University, said in the report.
    Cheyanne M. Daniels, The Hill, 14 Jan. 2025
  • Carter emphasizes that systemic challenges persist: unequal pay, the lack of affordable childcare, and limited parental leave for fathers all reinforce imbalances in parenting roles.
    Amy Shoenthal, Forbes, 14 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • The six-year veteran battled ankle and hip injuries during the regular season and when an oblique injury held him out in the wild-card round, Salyer especially struggled in his place.
    Thuc Nhi Nguyen, Los Angeles Times, 13 Jan. 2025
  • Erickson, Stiller and production designer Jeremy Hindle have a knack for building setups that riff on corporations’ uncanny, infantilizing methods of control, yet feel more oblique and mysterious than straight satire.
    Alison Herman, Variety, 7 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • Minshew was terrible in 10 appearances and got benched multiple times before suffering a broken collarbone.
    Vic Tafur, The Athletic, 9 Jan. 2025
  • Garnish the top with broken pieces of graham crackers for a bit of crunch.
    Amanda Holstein, Southern Living, 9 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • An underground glow In fungi, the key step towards bioluminescence occurs when the enzyme luciferase converts light-emitting compound called luciferin into an unstable product.
    Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 9 Jan. 2025
  • To address such an unstable yet technical landscape, businesses ‘curate’ teams of experts and ask them to work together.
    London Business School, Forbes, 9 Jan. 2025

Thesaurus Entries Near uneven

Cite this Entry

“Uneven.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/uneven. Accessed 22 Jan. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on uneven

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!