vulgar
Americanadjective
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characterized by ignorance of or lack of good breeding or taste.
vulgar ostentation.
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indecent; obscene; lewd.
a vulgar work; a vulgar gesture.
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crude; coarse; unrefined.
a vulgar peasant.
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of, relating to, or constituting the ordinary people in a society.
the vulgar masses.
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current; popular; common.
a vulgar success; vulgar beliefs.
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spoken by, or being in the language spoken by, the people generally; vernacular.
vulgar tongue.
- Synonyms:
- colloquial
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lacking in distinction, aesthetic value, or charm; banal; ordinary.
a vulgar painting.
noun
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Archaic. the common people.
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Obsolete. the vernacular.
adjective
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marked by lack of taste, culture, delicacy, manners, etc
vulgar behaviour
vulgar language
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(often capital; usually prenominal) denoting a form of a language, esp of Latin, current among common people, esp at a period when the formal language is archaic and not in general spoken use
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archaic
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of, relating to, or current among the great mass of common people, in contrast to the educated, cultured, or privileged; ordinary
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( as collective noun; preceded by the )
the vulgar
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Usage
Terms that are labeled Vulgar in this dictionary are considered inappropriate in many circumstances because of their association with a taboo subject. Major taboo subjects in English-speaking countries are sex and excretion and the parts of the body associated with those functions.
Related Words
See common.
Other Word Forms
- unvulgar adjective
- unvulgarly adverb
- unvulgarness noun
- vulgarly adverb
- vulgarness noun
Etymology
Origin of vulgar
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin vulgāris, from vulg(us) “common people, crowd” + -āris -ar 1
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.
Ubaldo Vitali declares gold to be “vulgar,” and the silver upon which he performs his sorcery to be the most beautiful precious metal in the world, one that reflects light like no other.
Those who condemned the book as vulgar self-promotion validated his decision to describe things as they really are.
Trying to shake off its association with the equal parts juvenile and vulgar “Attitude Era” of the 1990s, WWE repeatedly handed the championship belt over to a troop-respecting golden boy.
From Salon
Without “cultural invention as a potential countervailing force,” the counter-counterculture filled the vacuum with the vulgar nihilism of digital norm evasion.
“The comments were vulgar, offensive and false, and we apologize for the hurt they have caused,” the company said Wednesday.
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.
