Rough way to be picked up by the ears (6)
I believe the answer is:
coarse
'rough' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)
'way to be picked up by the ears' is the wordplay.
'way' becomes 'course' (course is a kind of way).
'to be picked up by the ears' shows a homophone (sound like).
'course' is a homophone of 'COARSE'.
(Other definitions for coarse that I've seen before include "Rough, uncouth" , "Rought or crude" , "Inferior" , "gross" , "Rough or rude" .)