Link Centre Dictionary

coarse

UK/kɔːs/ US/kɔɹs/ uncommon archaic

adjective

1.

of texture; large-grained or rough to the touch

  • “coarse meal”
  • “coarse sand”
  • “a coarse weave”
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.

of low or inferior quality or value

  • “of what coarse metal ye are molded” Shakespeare
  • “produced...the common cloths used by the poorer population”
Synonyms
Similar
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

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.