adjective
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rude or surly
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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.
A person would be churlish not to be moved by the two recipients’ stories Tuesday night, but awarding them what they’d earned in that venue marked the abuse of a great honor.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 26, 2026
When the result is far more important than the performance, it would be churlish to nit-pick too much.
From BBC • Sep. 28, 2025
“It seems churlish to complain about where we are right now,” said Wendy Edelberg, director of the Hamilton Project, an economic policy arm of the Brookings Institution.
From New York Times • Apr. 13, 2024
One doesn’t wish to be churlish, but if you decide to open its most recent financial statement covering the first nine months of 2023, I’d advise doing so in a well-ventilated space.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 25, 2024
It would be churlish to argue that smart policing isn’t a good thing.
From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt
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.
