rude
adjective
discourteous or impolite, especially in a deliberate way.
rude
1 American
[rood]
/ rud /
adjective
-
ruder,
comparative
-
rudest
superlative
-
discourteous or impolite, especially in a deliberate way.
a rude reply.
- Synonyms:
- fresh, pert, saucy, impudent, impertinent, brusque, curt, unmannerly, uncivil
-
without culture, learning, or refinement.
rude, illiterate peasants.
- Synonyms:
- rough, vulgar, coarse, uncouth, uncivilized, uncultured, unrefined
-
rough in manners or behavior; unmannerly; uncouth.
-
rough, harsh, or ungentle.
rude hands.
-
roughly wrought, built, or formed; of a crude construction or kind.
a rude cottage.
-
not properly or fully developed; raw; unevolved.
a rude first stage of development.
-
harsh to the ear.
rude sounds.
-
without artistic elegance; of a primitive simplicity.
a rude design.
-
violent or tempestuous, as the waves.
- Synonyms:
- stormy, turbulent, tumultuous, fierce
-
robust, sturdy, or vigorous.
rude strength.
-
approximate or tentative.
a rude first calculation of costs.
Rude
2
American
[r y d]
/ rüd /
noun
rude
British
/ ruːd /
adjective
-
insulting or uncivil; discourteous; impolite
he was rude about her hairstyle
-
lacking refinement; coarse or uncouth
-
vulgar or obscene
a rude joke
-
unexpected and unpleasant
a rude awakening to the facts of economic life
-
roughly or crudely made
we made a rude shelter on the island
-
rough or harsh in sound, appearance, or behaviour
-
humble or lowly
-
(prenominal) robust or sturdy
in rude health
-
(prenominal) approximate or imprecise
a rude estimate
Synonym Usage
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
overrudenessnoun
-
rudenessnoun
-
overrudeadjective
-
unrudeadjective
-
overrudelyadverb
-
rudelyadverb
-
unrudelyadverb
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of rude
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English rude, ruide, from Old French, from Latin rudis
Explanation
Rude describes a type of behavior that isn't appropriate and usually isn't very nice, either — like yelling "You stink!" at a children's talent show. Rude refers to bad behavior or just plain bad manners. For example, children are taught to say "please" and "thank you" or they are considered rude. A rude person needs a little work — rude also means crude or basic, like a rude cabin out in the woods that barely keeps the rain out. It can be a sudden realization, too. If you wake up and see your breath, it's a rude awakening that the heat's not working.
Vocabulary lists containing rude
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Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I have a dream" speech
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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:
Talking on the phone in public is rude.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026
“So youre not only rude, you’re also a liar. Got it.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026
“So you’re not only rude, you’re also a liar. Got it,” Clarkson wrote.
From Salon ● Oct. 12, 2026
The loss to Oregon last season served as a rude awakening for USC and Maiava, a reminder of how far both still had to go before reaching their potential.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
“But you’re a little older than that?” he said, suddenly worried that he was being rude.
From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny
Following her was fellow queen Kochina Rude who came out dressed as Pee-wee Herman to perform the Germs’ “Lexicon Devil” before stage-diving into the crowd.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
Emelyn Rude, author of Tastes Like Chicken: A History of America’s Favorite Bird, says “the shock comes from this dissonance: we don’t think of it as a luxury food.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026
“This suggests that mature consumers are not only growing in number but also increasing their spending at a significant pace,” said Jana Rude, Euromonitor’s senior global insight manager for consumers.
From Barron's ● Nov. 28, 2025
Rude gestures are rare on postage stamps, but Ukraine's best known stamp has one.
From BBC ● Dec. 24, 2024
Finn blinked at the boy in front of him, his eyes zeroing in on that famous Rude underbite.
From "Bone Gap" by Laura Ruby
The actual phrasing he used was far ruder than that – but you get the drift.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
Sherril Graham said she thought the national norms were making people ruder and more radicalized.
From Slate ● Oct. 22, 2025
It’s hard to see what’s ruder than the way we’re trashing it with our vainglorious Seattle neglect.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 30, 2023
This one’s in Ann Arbor, where Ohio State freshman quarterback CJ Stroud will receive a ruder welcome than he’s ever experienced.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 25, 2021
The Army offered us rations, which gettings Sip and I could not refuse; and so we repaired to the city gates, where our fiddlers’ fingers took to ruder labor.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
It’s that they’ve done it by transforming into the rudest, most hard-hitting, trash-talking team in professional basketball.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 4, 2026
It was a rude speech, maybe the rudest by a national leader in Davos history.
From Slate ● Jan. 21, 2026
If there was hope, and belief, that this type of performance was maybe behind them, then this was the rudest of rude awakenings.
From BBC ● Mar. 23, 2025
Siwa and Bure were previously embroiled in drama, after the former "Dance Moms" star called Bure the "rudest celebrity I've met" in a July TikTok.
From Salon ● Nov. 15, 2022
“Shall I let out the water?” he enquired in the rudest voice he had.
From "Mary Poppins" by P. L. Travers
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
