ill-mannered

American  

[il-man-erd] / ˈɪlˈmæn ərd /

adjective

1. having bad or poor manners; impolite; discourteous; rude.

   Synonyms:

   uncivil, crude, unpolished

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ill-mannered British  

adjective

1. having bad manners; rude; impolite

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Other Word Forms

• ill-manneredness
  noun
• ill-manneredly
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of ill-mannered

late Middle English word dating back to 1375–1425; see origin at ill, mannered

Explanation

Someone who's ill-mannered is rude. It would be ill-mannered to show up an hour late to your cousin's wedding reception with a carful of your (uninvited) friends. If you act in an impolite, ungracious, or discourteous way, you'll be thought of as ill-mannered. It's ill-mannered to cut in front of people in line, to take a subway seat where an elderly person was getting ready to sit, or to invite everyone in your class except one person to your birthday party. Ill-mannered adds the prefix ill-, "badly," to mannered, "having manners," from manner, "way of doing things."

Example Sentences

In fact, one might meet Baby, the dog shared by Mr. King, Ms. Radziwill and Mr. Swanhaus, and find her slightly ill mannered at times.

From New York Times • Dec. 9, 2016

But I am not ashamed because I am a bad father, a bad individual or ill mannered.

From "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Anthony should at least understand that it was exceedingly ill mannered of him to keep staring down into his plate when he must have become aware that she was now ready to talk with him.

From The Camp Fire Girls in the Outside World by Vandercook, Margaret

And de children is all so ill mannered, too.

From Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves Oklahoma Narratives by Work Projects Administration

Do you imagine that I would be so ill mannered as to leave you?

From The White Knight: Tirant Lo Blanc by Rudder, Robert S.