coarse
adjUK /kɔːs/ · US /kɔɹs/
Etymology Adjectival use of course that diverged in spelling in the 18th century. The sense developed from '(following) the usual course' (cf. of course) to 'ordinary, common' to 'lacking refinement', with 'not fine, granular' arising from its application to cloth. Compare the development of mean.
1
With a rough texture; not smooth.
- Two hundred Sempſtreſſes were employed to make me Shirts, and Linen for Bed and Table, all of the ſtrongeft and coarſeſt kind they could get; which, however, they were forced to quilt together in ſeveral Folds, for the thickeſt was ſome degrees finer than Lawn.1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “Of the Inhabitants of Lilliput; […]”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume I, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, part I (A Voyage to Lilliput), pages 107–108:
2
Composed of large particles.
- coarse sand
- Graham flour is coarsely granulated wheat meal. No sieves or bolting cloths are employed in its manufacture, and many coarse, unpulverized particles are present in the product.1908, Harry Snyder, Human Foods and their Nutritive Value, New York: Macmillan, section 157, pp. 145-146:
1 more example
- Missing units may be attributed to either the lack of proper sized material in the source or the successive, downcurrent sedimentation of the coarser materials first and the finer materials last.2012, Paul E. Potter, James Maynard, Wayne A. Pryor, Sedimentology of Shale: Study Guide and Reference Source:
3
Lacking refinement, taste or delicacy.
- coarse manners
- coarse language
2 more examples
- ☞ This word [earth] is liable to a coarſe vulgar pronunciation, as if written Urth;[…]1791, John Walker, A Critical Pronouncing Dictionary […] , London: Sold by G. G. J. and J. Robinſon, Paternoſter Row; and T. Cadell, in the Strand, →OCLC, page 211:
- The butcher and the porkman painted up only the leanest scrags of meat; the baker, the coarsest of meagre loaves.2007, Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities, Penguin, →ISBN, page 34:
4
Archaic, Of a metal Unrefined.
5
Of inferior quality.
- Due to the internet issue, the system generated an coarse audio file.
- She detests visiting coarse places.
- Synonyms
- thick, rough, sharp, hard, rude, uncouth, blunt, unpolished, inelegant, indelicate, vulgar, gritty, obscene, crass, earthy, roborean
- Antonyms
- fine
- Derived terms
- coarse fish, coarse-grained, coarse-graining, coarsehanded, coarse-handed, coarsely, coarsen, coarseness, coarsish, coarsy, uncoarse