coarse
Americanadjective
-
coarser,
comparative
-
coarsest
superlative
-
composed of relatively large parts or particles.
The beach had rough, coarse sand.
-
lacking in fineness or delicacy of texture, structure, etc..
The stiff, coarse fabric irritated her skin.
-
harsh; grating.
-
lacking delicacy, taste, or refinement; unpolished.
He had coarse manners but an absolutely first-rate mind.
-
of inferior or faulty quality; common; base.
-
vulgar; obscene; crude.
His coarse language angered us.
- Synonyms:
- indelicate
-
(of metals) unrefined.
-
(of a metal file) having the maximum commercial grade of coarseness.
adjective
-
rough in texture, structure, etc; not fine
coarse sand
-
lacking refinement or taste; indelicate; vulgar
coarse jokes
-
of inferior quality; not pure or choice
-
(of a metal) not refined
-
(of a screw) having widely spaced threads
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of coarse
First recorded in 1550–60; earlier cors(e), course, cowarce; of obscure origin
Explanation
Coarse can mean rough to the touch or vulgar. It's good to have coarse sand paper, but not good to have coarse manners. Do you lick your dinner plate, wipe your nose on your sleeve, and generally behave like an oaf? No, of course not. You're the kind of person who reads online dictionaries. But if you did do any of things, you'd be coarse — that is, unrefined, boorish, and downright vulgar. Coarse can apply to a wide variety of things other than behavior. If something is of poor quality, cheap and inferior, it's considered coarse.
Vocabulary lists containing coarse
The New SAT: Words to Capture Tone
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The SAT: Words to Capture Tone, List 6
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"Of Mice and Men"
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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.
See Examples For:
A stadium takes the coarse block and, for a few hours, forces the finer sort my model said was missing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
They detected sharp, short-lived increases in both coarse and fine airborne particles throughout the event.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 4, 2026
Some large coarse fish, such as chub, roach and dace were also killed.
From BBC ● Jul. 3, 2026
During the hottest hours, many retreat to makeshift huts -- frames of sticks draped with coarse homespun cloth, plastered with wild donkey dung.
From Barron's ● May 10, 2026
“That’s just what I don’t want, Joe. They would make such a business of it,—such a coarse and common business,—that I couldn’t bear myself.”
From "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens
Unlike Maricopa Highway 33, Hudson Ranch Road features coarser asphalt, no guardrails and more passing zones than turnouts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
They’re small, the colors are garish, and they’re coarser in feeling than the work for which he is best known.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 24, 2026
Instead of chasing smoothness, I embraced the coarser texture of cornmeal, letting it resist cohesion.
From Salon ● Apr. 16, 2025
Less electricity was produced when coffee had a higher internal moisture content and when coffee was ground at a coarser setting.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 6, 2023
He has heard Laura in the living room speaking with two men, one of them with a ripply, tricky voice, the other with a coarser voice, a thicker laugh, a big man, no doubt.
From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez
Hershey assumes Mounds consumers crave coconut meat at its coarsest and its exfoliating benefits for the digestive tract.
From Salon ● Oct. 29, 2022
If you have multiple files, work from coarsest to finest, just like sanding a table.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 3, 2022
Justice Stephen G. Breyer was particularly concerned about whether racial slurs and the coarsest of words have a lingering effect.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 15, 2019
Areas closest to the river and its branches rose the highest in elevation, because they got the most doses of the coarsest sediment.
From Scientific American ● Mar. 3, 2018
The visitor was a stout man in cracked, mud-caked boots and a heavy brown robe of the coarsest roughspun, his features hidden by a cowl, his hands drawn up into voluminous sleeves.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
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.
