underbred
adjEtymology From under- + bred.
1
Of inferior breeding or upbringing; vulgar, lacking in manners or finesse.
- The art of governing these under-bred varlets lies more in the dignity of looks than in words […].1748, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter CDXXIII”, in Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to VII), London: […] S[amuel] Richardson; [a]nd sold by John Osborn, […], →OCLC:
- Himself, he felt the most underbred of all; he was afraid of these Utopians: snobbish and abject before them, he was like a mannerless earthy lout in a drawing-room, and he was bitterly ashamed of his own abjection.1923, H. G. Wells, Men Like Gods:
2
Of animals Not purebred; of an inferior strain.
- I prefer both sire and dam to be well-bred, but a well-bred mare and an underbred horse will produce a faster animal than a thoroughbred horse and an underbred mare.1902, Frank Sherman Peer, Cross country with horse and hound:
- Antonyms
- thoroughbred
- Derived terms
- underbredness