rude Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. adjective satellite socially incorrect in behavior
    unmannerly; unmannered; bad-mannered; ill-mannered.
    • resentment flared at such an unmannered intrusion
  2. adjective satellite (of persons) lacking in refinement or grace
    underbred; bounderish; yokelish; ill-bred; lowbred.
  3. adjective lacking civility or good manners
    uncivil.
    • want nothing from you but to get away from your uncivil tongue"- Willa Cather
  4. adjective satellite (used especially of commodities) being unprocessed or manufactured using only simple or minimal processes
    raw; natural.
    • natural yogurt
    • natural produce
    • raw wool
    • raw sugar
    • bales of rude cotton
  5. adjective satellite belonging to an early stage of technical development; characterized by simplicity and (often) crudeness
    crude; primitive.
    • the crude weapons and rude agricultural implements of early man
    • primitive movies of the 1890s
    • primitive living conditions in the Appalachian mountains

WordNet

Rude adjective
Etymology
F., fr. L. rudis.
Wordforms
comparative Ruder ; superlative Rudest
Definitions
  1. Characterized by roughness; umpolished; raw; lacking delicacy or refinement; coarse.
    Such gardening tools as art, yet rude, . . . had formed. Milton.
  2. Hence, specifically: (a) Unformed by taste or skill; not nicely finished; not smoothed or polished; -- said especially of material things; as, rude workmanship. "Rude was the cloth." Chaucer.
    Rude and unpolished stones. Bp. Stillingfleet.
    The heaven-born child All meanly wrapt in the rude manger lies. Milton.
    (b) Of untaught manners; unpolished; of low rank; uncivil; clownish; ignorant; raw; unskillful; -- said of persons, or of conduct, skill, and the like. "Mine ancestors were rude." impolite. Chaucer.
    He was but rude in the profession of arms. Sir H. Wotton.
    the rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep. Gray.
    (c) Violent; tumultuous; boisterous; inclement; harsh; severe; -- said of the weather, of storms, and the like; as, the rude winter.
    [Clouds] pushed with winds, rude in their shock. Milton.
    The rude agitation [of water] breaks it into foam. Boyle.
    (d) Barbarous; fierce; bloody; impetuous; -- said of war, conflict, and the like; as, the rude shock of armies. (e) Not finished or complete; inelegant; lacking chasteness or elegance; not in good taste; unsatisfactory in mode of treatment; -- said of literature, language, style, and the like. "The rude Irish books." Spenser.
    Rude am I in my speech. Shak.
    Unblemished by my rude translation. Dryden.
    Syn. -- Impertinent; rough; uneven; shapeless; unfashioned; rugged; artless; unpolished; uncouth; inelegant; rustic; coarse; vulgar; clownish; raw; unskillful; untaught; illiterate; ignorant; uncivil; impolite; saucy; impudent; insolent; surly; currish; churlish; brutal; uncivilized; barbarous; savage; violent; fierce; tumultuous; turbulent; impetuous; boisterous; harsh; inclement; severe. See Impertiment. -- Rude"ly adv. -- Rude"ness, n.

Webster 1913