Skip to content

schroff

rugged, craggy

adjective SHROF Rare

Also means

brusque, abrupt

Usage Note

Schroff describes steep, jagged rocky terrain (schroffe Felswände) or an abrupt, unfriendly manner. The physical and personal uses both convey an absence of smooth transitions.

Examples

"Die schroffe Felswand bot dem Kletterer kaum Griffe."

Natural Translation

The craggy rock face offered the climber almost no holds.

Literal Translation

The craggy rock-wall offered the climber hardly any grips.

Free starter pack

Building your German vocabulary?

Get the 100 most common German words as a free PDF — one email, no spam.

Explore German by topic