churlish

[ chur-lish ]

adjective

1. like a churl; boorish; rude:

   churlish behavior.

   Synonyms: uncivil, ill-natured, loutish, vulgar, uncouth, coarse

   Antonyms: courteous

2. of a churl; peasantlike.
3. stingy; mean.
4. difficult to work or deal with, as soil.

churlish

/ ˈtʃɜːlɪʃ /

adjective

1. rude or surly
2. of or relating to peasants
3. miserly

Derived Forms

• ˈchurlishly, adverb
• ˈchurlishness, noun

Other Words From

• churlish·ly adverb
• churlish·ness noun
• un·churlish adjective
• un·churlish·ly adverb
• un·churlish·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of churlish¹

Before 1000; Middle English cherlish, Old English ceorlisc. See churl, -ish ¹

Example Sentences

Honestly, aside from a rather churlish crow named Mango, you’d be surprised at just how crafty birds can be!

From Popular-Science

Celebrating the occult and otherworldly just one day a year seems churlish and unwholesome, especially when the occult is around us every day.

From The Daily Beast

And yet, by the end of the night, it felt churlish to complain.

From The Daily Beast

Christmas is a season of marvelous and mystical experiences, and maybe it seems churlish to let science and history intrude.

From The Daily Beast

For the moment it seems churlish to knock an innocuous little history for its essential brevity and its inevitable lacunae.

From The Daily Beast

My friends all seemed to drool over churlish boy-band types.

From The Daily Beast

His churlish attack created a media storm that the Republican Party got dragged into and which has hurt the image of the party.

From The Daily Beast

With a churlish gesture the old man pushed the bread over toward her and with hesitating, trembling fingers she reached for it.

From Project Gutenberg

The lover has no share in this churlish anger: his heart is not capable of offending you.

From Project Gutenberg

It seemed churlish, too, not to join in the chorus; and by and by the whole meeting was singing with a will.

From Project Gutenberg

He was stirred to stinging invective of the churlish priest of Saint-Sulpice, who denied her church-burial.

From Project Gutenberg

A finer weapon wherewith to strike at a churlish world was never given into the hands of man.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• grumpy
• ornery
• rude
• sullen
• uncivilized