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:
County prosecutor, accused Hochman of contradicting himself, questioning the D.A.’s efforts to justify the officers’ coarse language.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
On the other goes a coarse, olive-bar-inspired romesco made with jarred roasted peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, salted roasted almonds and smoked paprika.
From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2026
India's main summer crops include rice, pulses, coarse cereals, oilseeds, cotton, sugarcane and jute.
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026
The new surface isn’t plastic like a typical pool lining, which is easier to cut, but is more like a coarse coat of paint.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 21, 2026
Nineteenth-century séance attendees had the jaw-dropping experience of watching delicate lady mediums taken over by coarse sailor’s spirits and cursing up a storm direct from Summerland.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
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
The ad itself uses coarser language and has given rise to awkwardness: “That makes the LGBTQ+ community think, ‘Oh, Spencer,’ and Heidi, my wife, is a huge gay icon.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 2026
The scope of SinoProbe II—successor to SinoProbe I, a coarser survey that ran from 2008–16—“is mind-boggling,” says Larry Brown, a geophysicist at Cornell University.
From Science Magazine ● Nov. 17, 2024
His analysis showed that the CONUS404 simulations were reliably capturing straight-line winds, as opposed to previous, coarser simulations that failed to capture many such events.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 2, 2023
It fell, in waves and curls and disobedient frizzy wisps—soft on the inside, coarser on the outside—to just below where her small, strong waist began its curve out towards her hips.
From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
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
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
Jeffrey Harmon says the concept was inspired by something he’d noticed as a missionary in Ireland: upper-crust accents refine the coarsest jokes.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 20, 2016
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.
