coarse
adjective
1.
2.
lacking refinement or cultivation or taste
- “he had coarse manners but a first-rate mind”
- “behavior that branded him as common”
- “an untutored and uncouth human being”
- “an uncouth soldier--a real tough guy”
- “appealing to the vulgar taste for violence”
- “the vulgar display of the newly rich”
3.
4.
conspicuously and tastelessly indecent
- “coarse language”
- “a crude joke”
- “crude behavior”
- “an earthy sense of humor”
- “a revoltingly gross expletive”
- “a vulgar gesture”
- “full of language so vulgar it should have been edited”
Origin
Adjectival use of course that diverged in spelling in the 18th century. The sense developed from '(following) the usual course' (cf. of course) to 'ordinary, common' to 'lacking refinement', with 'not fine, granular' arising from its application to cloth. Compare the development of mean.
Phrases
- coarse fish
Related words
Word family
See also
WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.