WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Rude
Part of Speech : a.
Etymology : [F., fr. L. rudis.]
Definition : 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." 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.

[Compar. Ruder; superl. Rudest.]
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913