rocky

/ˈrɑki/

/ˈrɒki/

Other forms: rockier; rockiest; rockily

Anything rocky is covered with rocks, like a rocky beach or hillside. You can also use rocky for something that moves in a bumpy or uneven manner, like a rocky ride in a Jeep.

There's a figurative sense of rocky that means "difficult, rough, or up-and-down" like your rocky relationship with your sister or a struggling business's rocky future. This meaning comes from a combination of the "uneven and covered with rocks" definition and the verb rock, or "sway back and forth." The Rocky Mountains, which aren't actually all that rocky, were named for the local Native American people, called "the stone Sioux" by their Cree neighbors.

Definitions of rocky

1. adjective

   abounding in rocks or stones
   “rocky fields”

   synonyms: bouldered, bouldery, stony

   rough, unsmooth

   having or caused by an irregular surface
2. adjective

   causing or characterized by jolts and irregular movements
   synonyms: bumpy, jolting, jolty, jumpy, rough
3. adjective

   full of hardship or trials
   “the rocky road to success”

   synonyms: rough

   difficult, hard

   not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure
4. adjective

   liable to rock
   “on high rocky heels”

   synonyms:

   unstable

   lacking stability or fixity or firmness