crass
Americanadjective
-
crasser,
comparative
-
crassest
superlative
-
without refinement, delicacy, or sensitivity; gross; obtuse; stupid.
crass commercialism; a crass misrepresentation of the facts.
- Synonyms:
- indelicate, oafish, boorish, dull
-
Archaic. thick; coarse.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of crass
First recorded in 1535–45; from Middle French, from Latin crassus “fat, thick”
Explanation
A crass comment is very stupid and shows that the speaker doesn't care about other people's feelings. In today's day and age, you don't have to wear black to a funeral, but to show up in clown pants is simply crass. The source of this adjective is Latin crassus, "thick, dense, fat." A similar development of meaning can be seen in English dense in the sense of "stupid, slow to understand," from Latin densus, "thick, dense," and in English thick, which can also be used to mean "stupid."
Vocabulary lists containing crass
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The Cuckoo's Calling
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The Sound and the Fury
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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:
At REDCAT, the superb Rosemarie DeWitt assumes Marvel’s place, standing in for Ford but never attempting anything as crass as an impersonation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
It’s crass and illegal, and yes, the cameras are insured and immediately get replaced.
From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026
Were he around today, he’d probably have some thoughts about the state of children’s animation too, after seeing director Andy Serkis’ crass, frenetic, Americanized “update” of his anti-totalitarianism creature tale.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2026
To many of the families of the dead, returning to Mystic is crass bordering on disrespectful.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 18, 2026
I have come to think of marriage as dishonorable, a crass trade-off rather than a free gift.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
In the critical drubbing that has accompanied the series’ actual release, “Insatiable” has been condemned as a thing even crasser than promised, and not without reason.
From The New Yorker ● Aug. 10, 2018
Ms. Brooks, 45, was questioned about some of the crasser highlights of her career by her own lawyer, Jonathan Laidlaw, even before prosecutors began their cross-examination on Wednesday.
From New York Times ● Mar. 5, 2014
And his nasal voice and prim diction wonderfully underline his crasser bits.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 22, 2012
It’s not just that communication has become more frequent, it’s become much crasser and coarser.
From Forbes ● Sep. 26, 2012
The bolts of thunder, then, must be conceived As all begotten in those crasser clouds Up-piled aloft; for, from the sky serene And from the clouds of lighter density, None are sent forth forever.
From On the Nature of Things by William Ellery Leonard
And that was just at the crassest level.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 24, 2021
Under the act’s crassest feature, the commissioner who returned an alleged runaway to his or her captors received a ten-dollar fee, while deciding for liberty only brought five dollars.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 18, 2018
It lacked the narrative structure, moral fiber, and cathartic transformation that even the crassest feed serials took for granted.
From The Verge ● Dec. 17, 2017
Luckily Ms. Cheung and Mr. Kao have a low-key cuteness that renders even the crassest scenes inoffensive — even if her three-word wedding-day confession is not the one most men want to hear.
From New York Times ● Aug. 13, 2010
I said I'd risk appearing the crassest, contradictoriest wretch that ever drew breath.
From The Return by Walter De la Mare
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
