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underbred

American  
[uhn-der-bred] / ˌʌn dərˈbrɛd /

adjective

  1. having inferior breeding or manners; vulgar.

  2. not of pure breed, as a horse.


underbred British  
/ ˌʌndəˈbrɛd /

adjective

  1. of impure stock; not thoroughbred

  2. a less common word for ill-bred

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms


Etymology

Origin of underbred

First recorded in 1640–50; under- + bred


Vocabulary lists containing underbred

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.

See Examples For:

“It is underbred, not only in the obvious sense, but in the literary sense.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 14, 2025

I repeat my hope that the friends and acquaintances with whom I live are not the underbred and ill-mannered class you think them; beyond that I have nothing to say.

From Sir Jasper Carew His Life and Experience by Charles James Lever

She knew quite well that Mrs. Desmond disliked the word mamma, considering it underbred; but the girl had told herself that she would call no stranger mother, and she kept her word.

From Unlucky A Fragment of a Girl's Life by Caroline Austin

She ordered me about in public, and I loved her so much that I obeyed her, and did not regard her behaviour as the least underbred or vulgar.

From A Knight on Wheels by Ian Hay

She caught him by the collar, looking straight at the exceptionally handsome man with the underbred blaze of yellow on his shirt-front: "Down! down, sir!—You had better go back," to Mr. Van Ness.

From Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Volume 20, September, 1877. by Various

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