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

He is especially winning when he barely skirts the sentimental or ill-mannered.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 19, 2025

He had a two-set lead against Nadal in this year's Australian Open final, but lost in five hours and 24 minutes and was on the receiving end of a partisan and ill-mannered crowd.

From BBC • Feb. 28, 2022

In any event, the young man was often dismissed as ill-mannered and intemperate, and he burned bridges with many who would gladly have helped him.

From Washington Post • Aug. 16, 2019

William Bell, walking down ahead of Powell, looked ahead to the front door through which, in a few moments, he would take the ill-mannered visitor into the street.

From "Chasing Lincoln's Killer" by James L. Swanson