adjective
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rude or surly
-
of or relating to peasants
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miserly
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of churlish
Before 1000; Middle English cherlish, Old English ceorlisc. See churl, -ish 1
Explanation
A churlish person is one whose middle name might as well be Rude. He’s the one who was never taught to mind his manners and avoid telling vulgar jokes at the dinner table. Churlish has its origins in late Old English, but its modern-day meaning of “deliberately rude” developed in the 14th century. It’s a fitting adjective to describe boorish or surly behavior. It can also describe a material that is difficult to work with, such as hard wood that’s resistant to quick whittling. Our prolific pal Shakespeare coined the phrase, “as valiant as the lion, churlish as the bear.”
Vocabulary lists containing churlish
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The New SAT: Words to Capture Tone
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The SAT: Words to Capture Tone, List 8
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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.
Churlish Nikita Khrushchev made it a night to remember.
From Time Magazine Archive
Churlish as was Mr. Chattaway's general manner, he could not avoid showing pleasure at its arrival.
From Trevlyn Hold by Wood, Mrs. Henry
Churlish indeed should we have been if we had sighed to think that we had met our warmest welcome at an inn.
From Above the Snow Line by Dent, Clinton Thomas
Choose we gentle courtesies, Churlish ways forswear; Let us one and all behold Jesus sleeping there.
From Renaissance in Italy: Italian Literature Part 1 (of 2) by Symonds, John Addington
Churlish, crusty, gloomy, gruff, ill-natured, morose, sour, sullen, surly.
From Composition-Rhetoric by Brooks, Stratton D.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
