ill-mannered
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The accompanying photo portraits are mostly hideous, in Ms. Wiles’s case also ill-mannered and unkind.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 18, 2025
Ferrigan said that a local official’s choice not to lower flags after a president’s executive directive might be seen as somewhat ill-mannered but wouldn’t be breaking any rules.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2025
He had a two-set lead against Nadal in this year's Australian Open final, but lost in five hours and 24 minutes and was on the receiving end of a partisan and ill-mannered crowd.
From BBC ● Feb. 28, 2022
In any event, the young man was often dismissed as ill-mannered and intemperate, and he burned bridges with many who would gladly have helped him.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 16, 2019
William Bell, walking down ahead of Powell, looked ahead to the front door through which, in a few moments, he would take the ill-mannered visitor into the street.
From "Chasing Lincoln's Killer" by James L. Swanson
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.
