rude
adjective
discourteous or impolite, especially in a deliberate way.
rude
1 American
[rood]
/ rud /
adjective
-
ruder,
comparative
-
rudest
superlative
-
discourteous or impolite, especially in a deliberate way.
a rude reply.
- Synonyms:
- fresh, pert, saucy, impudent, impertinent, brusque, curt, unmannerly, uncivil
-
without culture, learning, or refinement.
rude, illiterate peasants.
- Synonyms:
- rough, vulgar, coarse, uncouth, uncivilized, uncultured, unrefined
-
rough in manners or behavior; unmannerly; uncouth.
-
rough, harsh, or ungentle.
rude hands.
-
roughly wrought, built, or formed; of a crude construction or kind.
a rude cottage.
-
not properly or fully developed; raw; unevolved.
a rude first stage of development.
-
harsh to the ear.
rude sounds.
-
without artistic elegance; of a primitive simplicity.
a rude design.
-
violent or tempestuous, as the waves.
- Synonyms:
- stormy, turbulent, tumultuous, fierce
-
robust, sturdy, or vigorous.
rude strength.
-
approximate or tentative.
a rude first calculation of costs.
Rude
2
American
[r y d]
/ rüd /
noun
rude
British
/ ruːd /
adjective
-
insulting or uncivil; discourteous; impolite
he was rude about her hairstyle
-
lacking refinement; coarse or uncouth
-
vulgar or obscene
a rude joke
-
unexpected and unpleasant
a rude awakening to the facts of economic life
-
roughly or crudely made
we made a rude shelter on the island
-
rough or harsh in sound, appearance, or behaviour
-
humble or lowly
-
(prenominal) robust or sturdy
in rude health
-
(prenominal) approximate or imprecise
a rude estimate
Synonym Usage
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
overrudenessnoun
-
rudenessnoun
-
overrudeadjective
-
unrudeadjective
-
overrudelyadverb
-
rudelyadverb
-
unrudelyadverb
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of rude
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English rude, ruide, from Old French, from Latin rudis
Explanation
Rude describes a type of behavior that isn't appropriate and usually isn't very nice, either — like yelling "You stink!" at a children's talent show. Rude refers to bad behavior or just plain bad manners. For example, children are taught to say "please" and "thank you" or they are considered rude. A rude person needs a little work — rude also means crude or basic, like a rude cabin out in the woods that barely keeps the rain out. It can be a sudden realization, too. If you wake up and see your breath, it's a rude awakening that the heat's not working.
Vocabulary lists containing rude
Christmas Carol Vocab: A Lyrical Lexicon
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Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I have a dream" speech
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“When the loved one dies and the house goes into probate, then they get a rude awakening.”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026
Now, when people who leased an EV come into their dealership hoping for another, they have been in for a rude awakening, he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026
His name is destined to become a rude punchline or be completely forgotten.
From Salon ● Aug. 7, 2026
That last element illustrated a sport in rude health and again raised the question of why organisers had not run the traditional closing stage over the scenic cobbled hill before its debut visit last year.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
The children growled, which was extremely rude, as they well knew.
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
Following her was fellow queen Kochina Rude who came out dressed as Pee-wee Herman to perform the Germs’ “Lexicon Devil” before stage-diving into the crowd.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
Emelyn Rude, author of Tastes Like Chicken: A History of America’s Favorite Bird, says “the shock comes from this dissonance: we don’t think of it as a luxury food.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026
“This suggests that mature consumers are not only growing in number but also increasing their spending at a significant pace,” said Jana Rude, Euromonitor’s senior global insight manager for consumers.
From Barron's ● Nov. 28, 2025
Rude gestures are rare on postage stamps, but Ukraine's best known stamp has one.
From BBC ● Dec. 24, 2024
The Rude boys suddenly forgot about the stuff they had to do, because they took their time and gave it their all, their knuckles almost as hard as their boots.
From "Bone Gap" by Laura Ruby
Slot's team could not be in ruder health, with the head coach calmly steering them.
From BBC ● Nov. 27, 2024
It’s hard to see what’s ruder than the way we’re trashing it with our vainglorious Seattle neglect.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 30, 2023
But his vision of it as a ruder, rawer, freer place is as uninteresting as it is inconsequential.
From Slate ● Apr. 15, 2022
This one’s in Ann Arbor, where Ohio State freshman quarterback CJ Stroud will receive a ruder welcome than he’s ever experienced.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 25, 2021
John closed the door behind him and stood in the narrow church aisle, hearing behind him the voices of children playing, and ruder voices, the voices of their elders, cursing and crying in the streets.
From "Go Tell It on the Mountain" by James Baldwin
It’s that they’ve done it by transforming into the rudest, most hard-hitting, trash-talking team in professional basketball.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 4, 2026
It was a rude speech, maybe the rudest by a national leader in Davos history.
From Slate ● Jan. 21, 2026
If there was hope, and belief, that this type of performance was maybe behind them, then this was the rudest of rude awakenings.
From BBC ● Mar. 23, 2025
Siwa and Bure were previously embroiled in drama, after the former "Dance Moms" star called Bure the "rudest celebrity I've met" in a July TikTok.
From Salon ● Nov. 15, 2022
Olanna was used to unprofessional and inept operators, but this was the rudest she had experienced.
From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
