rocky

B2 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈɹɑki/ UK /ˈɹɒki/ See IPA manual

Freq #4110

Meanings

1

adj
Covered with or full of rocks.

The path along the rocky shore was hard to walk on.
2

adj
Full of difficulties; unstable or uncertain.

Their marriage went through a rocky period.
3

adj
Not steady; likely to wobble.

The table was rocky, so we put a book under one leg.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · covered with or full of rocks. stonybouldery

2 adj · full of difficulties;... rough

3 adj · not steady; likely to wobble. wobbly tottering

Word family

Forms rockierrockiest

Derived forms nonrockyrockiesrockilyrockiness

Etymology

From Middle English rokki, rokky (“rocky”), from rok, rokke (“rock; a rock or stone; large rock by a coast or in the sea; rocky outcrop on a mountain, cliff; castle, citadel, stronghold”) [and other forms] + -i (suffix forming adjectives). Rok, rokke are derived from: * Old English *rocc (“rock”); and * Anglo-Norman roc, roce, roque, and Old French roce, roke, roque, variants of roche (“rock”); both from Medieval Latin roca, rocca; further etymology uncertain, possibly of Celtic origin. The English word is analysable as rock + -y (suffix forming adjectives meaning ‘having the quality of’).

rokki Middle English *rocc Old English roc xno roce Old French roca la-med

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# rocky

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈɹɑki/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈɹɒki/
**Frequency rank:** 4110

## Meanings
1. Covered with or full of rocks.
2. Full of difficulties; unstable or uncertain.
3. Not steady; likely to wobble.

## Examples
- The path along the rocky shore was hard to walk on.
- Their marriage went through a rocky period.
- The table was rocky, so we put a book under one leg.

## Derived Forms
- nonrocky
- rockies
- rockily
- rockiness

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: rokki
- Root: *rocc
- Root: roc
- Root: roce
- Root: roca

## Etymology
From Middle English rokki, rokky (“rocky”), from rok, rokke (“rock; a rock or stone; large rock by a coast or in the sea; rocky outcrop on a mountain, cliff; castle, citadel, stronghold”) [and other forms] + -i (suffix forming adjectives). Rok, rokke are derived from: * Old English *rocc (“rock”); and * Anglo-Norman roc, roce, roque, and Old French roce, roke, roque, variants of roche (“rock”); both from Medieval Latin roca, rocca; further etymology uncertain, possibly of Celtic origin. The English word is analysable as rock + -y (suffix forming adjectives meaning ‘having the quality of’).

## AI Etymology
Rocky comes from Middle English rokki, rokky (“rocky”), from rok, rokke (“rock; a rock or stone; large rock by a coast or in the sea; rocky outcrop on a mountain, cliff; castle, citadel, stronghold”) [and other forms] + -i (suffix forming adjectives). Rok, rokke are derived from: * Old English *rocc (“rock”); and * Anglo-Norman roc, roce, roque, and Old French roce, roke, roque, variants of roche (“rock”); both from Medieval Latin roca, rocca; further etymology uncertain, possibly of Celtic origin. The English word is analysable as rock + -y (suffix forming adjectives meaning ‘having the quality of’). Modern senses include covered with or full of rocks. and full of difficulties; unstable or uncertain.. The wider word family includes derivatives such as nonrocky, rockies, rockily, and rockiness.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

markdown