tactless

[takt-lis]

See more synonyms for tactless on Thesaurus.com

adjective

lacking tact; showing no tact; undiplomatic; offendingly blunt: a tactless remark.

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Origin of tactless

First recorded in 1840–50; tact + -less

Related formstact·less·ly, adverbtact·less·ness, noun

Synonyms

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rude, inconsiderate, thoughtless, brash, boorish.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

untactful awkward boorish brash bungling clumsy crude discourteous gauche gruff harsh hasty impolite impolitic imprudent inconsiderate indelicate indiscreet inept injudicious

Examples from the Web for tactless

Contemporary Examples

And if Lennon was tactless, McCartney was a natural diplomat.
What It Was Like to Watch the Beatles Become the Beatles—Nik Cohn Remembers
Nik Cohn
February 9, 2014
Was it the tactless non-invitation to Queen Elizabeth II to the D-Day commemoration?
Why Obama Dodged Sarkozy
Eric Pape
June 6, 2009

Historical Examples

When some tactless person tried to play tricks with the Crown.
Sir Walter Scott
George Saintsbury
And it was just there that the tactless waitress interrupted us so rudely.
Marge Askinforit
Barry Pain
I believe, for a woman, I am quite unpardonably clumsy and tactless.'
Peter and Jane
S. (Sarah) Macnaughtan
Being in a nervous twitter to get rid of him, I suppose I was pretty abrupt and tactless.
Dear Enemy
Jean Webster
Yes, I was still a bachelor—and probably a tactless, even a brutal, one.
On the Stairs
Henry B. Fuller

Word Origin and History for tactless

adj.

1847, from tact + -less. Related: Tactlessly; tactlessness.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper