ill-mannered

American  

[il-man-erd] / ˈɪlˈmæn ərd /

adjective

1. having bad or poor manners; impolite; discourteous; rude.

   Synonyms:

   uncivil, crude, unpolished

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ill-mannered British  

adjective

1. having bad manners; rude; impolite

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Other Word Forms

• ill-manneredly adverb
• ill-manneredness noun

Etymology

Origin of ill-mannered

late Middle English word dating back to 1375–1425; see origin at ill, mannered

Explanation

Someone who's ill-mannered is rude. It would be ill-mannered to show up an hour late to your cousin's wedding reception with a carful of your (uninvited) friends. If you act in an impolite, ungracious, or discourteous way, you'll be thought of as ill-mannered. It's ill-mannered to cut in front of people in line, to take a subway seat where an elderly person was getting ready to sit, or to invite everyone in your class except one person to your birthday party. Ill-mannered adds the prefix ill-, "badly," to mannered, "having manners," from manner, "way of doing things."

Example Sentences

The accompanying photo portraits are mostly hideous, in Ms. Wiles’s case also ill-mannered and unkind.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 18, 2025

Ferrigan said that a local official’s choice not to lower flags after a president’s executive directive might be seen as somewhat ill-mannered but wouldn’t be breaking any rules.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 17, 2025

Do I honor their request, even if it feels ill-mannered?

From Washington Post • Mar. 7, 2023

Harrison plays Rex, a coarse, ill-mannered layabout with a bleach-blonde bouffant hairdo.

From New York Times • Jun. 9, 2022

I too find it hard to believe there is a connection across time and space, linking me to a race of ill-mannered clowns.

From "The One and Only Ivan" by Katherine Applegate