rude

[rood]

adjective, rud·er, rud·est.

discourteous or impolite, especially in a deliberate way: a rude reply.

without culture, learning, or refinement: rude, illiterate peasants.

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.

robust, sturdy, or vigorous: rude strength.

approximate or tentative: a rude first calculation of costs.

Origin of rude

1300–50; Middle English rude, ruide (< Old French) < Latin rudis

Related formsrude·ly, adverbrude·ness, nouno·ver·rude, adjectiveo·ver·rude·ly, adverbo·ver·rude·ness, nounun·rude, adjectiveun·rude·ly, adverb

Synonyms for rude

1. uncivil, unmannerly, curt, brusque, impertinent, impudent, saucy, pert, fresh. 2. unrefined, uncultured, uncivilized, uncouth, coarse, vulgar, rough. 8. rustic, artless. 9. stormy, fierce, tumultuous, turbulent.

Synonym study

1, 3. See boorish. 6. See raw.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for ruder

boorish, insulting, abusive, vulgar, impolite, obscene, ignorant, coarse, surly, crude, intrusive, blunt, violent, unpleasant, harsh, uncivil, abrupt, barbarian, barbaric, barbarous

Examples from the Web for ruder

Contemporary Examples of ruder

The expert was the most famous natural philosopher in Italy, Father Ruder Boscovich.
Benjamin Franklin, America’s First Storm Chaser
Lee Sandlin
April 14, 2013

Historical Examples of ruder

Nay, they seem rather to prefer the ruder and rougher forms of attack.
Aurelian
William Ware
We had been accustomed to the ruder scenes of a northern clime.
The Rifle Rangers
Captain Mayne Reid
They have enabled the finer powers of women to have play as they could not in a ruder age.
Backlog Studies
Charles Dudley Warner
I asked for them again, you know, when Jim died, and she was ruder than ever.
Eve to the Rescue
Ethel Hueston
The deeper they got into the cavern, the ruder became the ascent.
The Freebooters
Gustave Aimard

British Dictionary definitions for ruder

rude

adjective

insulting or uncivil; discourteous; impolitehe was rude about her hairstyle

lacking refinement; coarse or uncouth

vulgar or obscenea rude joke

unexpected and unpleasanta rude awakening to the facts of economic life

roughly or crudely madewe made a rude shelter on the island

rough or harsh in sound, appearance, or behaviour

humble or lowly

(prenominal) robust or sturdyin rude health

(prenominal) approximate or imprecisea rude estimate

Derived Formsrudely, adverbrudeness or informal rudery, noun

Word Origin for rude

C14: via Old French from Latin rudis coarse, unformed

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for ruder

rude

adj.

late 13c., "coarse, rough" (of surfaces), from Old French ruide (13c.) or directly from Latin rudis "rough, crude, unlearned," perhaps related to rudus "rubble." Sense of "ill-mannered, uncultured; uneducated, uncultured" is from mid-14c. Rude boy (also rudie, for short) in Jamaican slang is attested from 1967. Figurative phrase rude awakening is attested from 1895.