vulgar Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. adjective satellite lacking refinement or cultivation or taste
    rough-cut; uncouth; coarse; common.
    • he had coarse manners but a first-rate mind
    • behavior that branded him as common
    • an untutored and uncouth human being
    • an uncouth soldier--a real tough guy
    • appealing to the vulgar taste for violence
    • the vulgar display of the newly rich
  2. adjective satellite of or associated with the great masses of people
    common; plebeian; unwashed.
    • the common people in those days suffered greatly
    • behavior that branded him as common
    • his square plebeian nose
    • a vulgar and objectionable person
    • the unwashed masses
  3. adjective satellite being or characteristic of or appropriate to everyday language
    vernacular; common.
    • common parlance
    • a vernacular term
    • vernacular speakers
    • the vulgar tongue of the masses
    • the technical and vulgar names for an animal species
  4. adjective satellite conspicuously and tastelessly indecent
    crude; gross; earthy.
    • coarse language
    • a crude joke
    • crude behavior
    • an earthy sense of humor
    • a revoltingly gross expletive
    • a vulgar gesture
    • full of language so vulgar it should have been edited

WordNet

Vul"gar adjective
Etymology
L. vulgaris, from vulgus the multitude, the common people; of uncertain origin: cf. F. vulgaire. Cf. Divulge.
Definitions
  1. Of or pertaining to the mass, or multitude, of people; common; general; ordinary; public; hence, in general use; vernacular. "As common as any the most vulgar thing to sense. " Shak.
    Things vulgar, and well-weighed, scarce worth the praise. Milton.
    It might be more useful to the English reader . . . to write in our vulgar language. Bp. Fell.
    The mechanical process of multiplying books had brought the New Testament in the vulgar tongue within the reach of every class. Bancroft.
  2. Belonging or relating to the common people, as distinguished from the cultivated or educated; pertaining to common life; plebeian; not select or distinguished; hence, sometimes, of little or no value. "Like the vulgar sort of market men." Shak.
    Men who have passed all their time in low and vulgar life. Addison.
    In reading an account of a battle, we follow the hero with our whole attention, but seldom reflect on the vulgar heaps of slaughter. Rambler.
  3. Hence, lacking cultivation or refinement; rustic; boorish; also, offensive to good taste or refined feelings; low; coarse; mean; base; as, vulgar men, minds, language, or manners.
    Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar. Shak.
Vul"gar noun
Etymology
Cf. F. vulgaire.
Definitions
  1. One of the common people; a vulgar person. Obs.
    These vile vulgars are extremely proud. Chapman.
  2. The vernacular, or common language. Obs.

Webster 1913