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first draft

NOUN
rough diamond
Synonyms
WEAK
design diamond in the rough first stab mock-up raw material rough outline rough sketch study unlicked cub

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

After her editor sent 11 pages of feedback and issued a two-month deadline for an overhaul, Fortune forgave herself for not getting a gold star on her first draft.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 7, 2026

However, Cardinal Jose Cobo Cano, Archbishop of Madrid, stressed it was only a first draft of a plan for now.

From Barron's • Feb. 10, 2026

He has always started his novels in notebooks, he says, before typing a first draft on his trusted typewriter, then moving onto a computer.

From BBC • Jan. 14, 2026

It is that first draft that we turned in.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 25, 2025

I completed the first draft of this book on the sixth anniversary of my adoption.

From "Three Little Words: A Memoir" by Ashley Rhodes-Courter